Michaela Johnson is a music rights attorney in the Firm’s New York office.

She advises clients across the music and entertainment industries on licensing, publishing, distribution and other intellectual property and transactional matters.

Before joining Manatt, Michaela gained hands-on experience with leading music and media companies, including Roc Nation, Sony Music Entertainment and Sesame Workshop. In these roles, she reviewed and drafted music licensing, publishing and distribution agreements; analyzed contractual rights and obligations; and conducted copyright research related to fair use, public domain works and digital content exploitation. She also supported content clearance efforts and prepared DMCA takedown notices addressing online infringement.

Michaela began her legal career working on a range of transactional and intellectual property matters at a New York-based law firm, where she conducted legal research, drafted memoranda and pleadings and supported client engagement initiatives. Prior to law school, she worked in artist management, administering performance and booking agreements for dancers, choreographers and performing artists.