TikTok is the leading destination for short-form mobile video. Our mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy.
We are looking for a transactional lawyer with significant experience drafting and negotiating digital music licenses for Europe, to join our legal team in London. The role will support TikTok’s Business Development team’s efforts to execute the music licensing strategy for TikTok and other digital / mobile properties, by acquiring rights from Europe-based record companies, aggregators, music publishers and collecting societies – with a primary emphasis on music publishing rights-related deals – and assisting with other music-related initiatives of key internal stakeholders. The position will work closely with and report to the Head Legal Counsel for Music Licensing in Los Angeles.
Responsibilities:
- Provide ongoing legal support to the Business Development team to devise music licensing strategy and close deals necessary to scale music license coverage for TikTok and other digital / mobile properties
- Review, draft and negotiate key blanket / catalogue music license agreements and other music-related contracts for Ad Sales / Monetization, Marketing, etc. teams
- Respond promptly to legal requests from internal stakeholders
- Advise on music copyright-related intellectual property rights issues
- Provide pragmatic, business-focused, solution-oriented legal advice and guidance to internal stakeholders with regard to business and legal risks and company policies
- Coordinate with Product and Engineering teams in connection with product developments and innovations related to music usage on TikTok and other digital / mobile properties
Qualifications:
- UK (or EU) Qualified lawyer with at least 10 years of experience negotiating and drafting complex digital music rights deals in Europe for digital service providers and / or UGC platforms
- Subject matter expertise – with and a deep and broad understanding of the digital music publishing rights landscape in Europe – is a pre-requisite
- A working knowledge of Article 17 requirements
- Experience working collaboratively and cross-functionally in a dynamic, fast-paced environment, with tight turn-around times and deadlines
- Entrepreneurial mindset; flexible, self-starting, hard-working, with a tolerance for working across multiple time zones outside of normal business hours
- Excellent drafting, negotiation and organizational skills, with an ability to prioritize among multiple urgent projects
- Strategic thinker with a pragmatic, creative, risk-based approach to problem-solving
- Comfortable dealing with uncertainty and ambiguity
- Excellent business judgment, communication and interpersonal skills
- Effective at managing key internal stakeholders’ expectations and managing articulation and escalation of difficult legal and business issues
- Fluent in English and ideally one or more other European languages
