Nationally recognized music copyright lawyer, and former Copyright Office General Counsel.
Jacqueline Charlesworth, former general counsel of the U.S. Copyright Office, is a nationally known litigator and entertainment attorney who represents clients in a wide range of copyright disputes and transactional matters, with a particular focus on music. Her client roster includes music and media companies, songwriters, and recording artists. She also represents national trade associations in litigation and regulatory matters. She was named a Woman Executive of the Year by Billboard magazine for her role in helping to craft and secure passage of the Music Modernization Act, landmark legislation that updated the U.S. music licensing system, and is a recipient of a Vanguard Award for IP from the California Lawyers Association, among other honors.
As general counsel of the U.S. Copyright Office, Jacqueline had primary responsibility for interpretation of the U.S. Copyright Act and managed a wide range of litigation, regulatory, and policy matters, including the Office’s participation in Supreme Court cases. She has also practiced at top-tier law firms and served as general counsel of the National Music Publishers’ Association and The Harry Fox Agency. Jacqueline has lectured extensively on music and copyright law, including at Yale, Harvard, Columbia and other leading law schools. She currently serves as president of the Los Angeles Copyright Society.
Jacqueline is a graduate of Brown University and Yale Law School. At Yale, she oversaw The Yale Law Journal as an Executive Committee Editor and was a founding member of the Yale Journal of Law & Feminism. Following law school, she served as a law clerk for Judge Mirian Cedarbaum of the Southern District of New York and Judge Betty Fletcher of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
