Karen Bass

Karen Bass, newly elected mayor of Los Angeles, will give the keynote speech at the Recording Academy Entertainment Law Initiative’s Grammy Week Event on Friday, Feb. 3 at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.

“We are honored to welcome Mayor Karen Bass to the Entertainment Law Initiative [ELI] Grammy Week Event as we gather and celebrate with the trailblazing professionals and students who are paving the way forward in the entertainment law industry,” Harvey Mason jr., CEO of the Recording Academy, said in a statement.

“Mayor Bass has been a longtime supporter of music creators’ rights in her legislative roles, and she has a unique understanding of how the creative industries intersect with law and policy that we look forward to hearing at this year’s event.”

Said Mayor Bass: “I’m proud to support Grammy Week because of the role that our entertainment industry plays in powering our local economy and to encourage efforts to increase equity and opportunities for Angelenos to break into the music business.”

Mayor Bass took office on Dec. 11, 2022, after serving in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2011 to 2022. Between 2004 and 2010, she served in the California State Assembly, where she was elected Speaker in 2008.

The Entertainment Law Initiative’s Grammy Week Event will also honor the winner and runners-up of the ELI Writing Contest, co-sponsored by the American Bar Association, which challenges students in Juris Doctorate and Master of Laws programs at U.S. law schools to research a pressing legal issue facing the modern music industry and outline a proposed solution in a 3,000-word essay.

The winner of this year’s Writing Contest is Aron Lichtschein, a JD student at NYU School of Law, for his essay, “Tickets to Ride: NFTs and the Future of Concert Ticketing.” Lichtschein will receive a $10,000 scholarship as well as tickets to the 65th Grammy Awards and other Grammy Week events. His essay will be published in the ABA’s journal, Entertainment & Sports Lawyer. Two runners-up, Gina Maeng and Amanda Sharp, students at Georgetown Law School and University of San Diego School of Law, respectively, will each receive $2,500 scholarships for their essays.

The Recording Academy announced last month that Peter T. Paterno, partner at King, Holmes, Paterno & Soriano, LLP, will receive the 2023 Entertainment Law Initiative Service Award at the ELI Grammy Week Event.