PRESENTATION - Maurice Russell

Featured Speaker:

Maurice Russell, Head of Rights Management at The MLC 

Maurice Russell is the Head of Rights Management for The Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC). In this role, Russell supports The MLC’s work to implement the first statutory blanket licensing system for mechanical rights in the United States. Russell also leverages his operational and administrative expertise in order to help The MLC prepare to process digital music royalty payments to music publishers and songwriters globally.

A senior executive in the music and entertainment industry with over 20 years of experience and a deep passion for intellectual property (IP) rights management, licensing, business development, strategy, client service and operations management, Russell was previously the founder of music industry rights management consultancy firm Media Rights Management (MRM). At MRM, Russell helped his clients navigate the music industry’s growing licensing and data challenges.

Prior to launching MRM, Russell held senior roles in operations and strategy at the Harry Fox Agency (HFA), where he directed the development and launch of numerous licensing and royalty solutions to transition the company to the high-volume digital music market.

Russell has served on advisory groups for the U.S. Copyright Office and the U.S. Patent and Trade Office, and he is a long-time participant in Digital Data Exchange (DDEX), the primary data standards body serving the global digital music industry. He is a recognized subject matter expert who is frequently asked to speak at key industry events, including Digital Music Forum, Music Biz and SXSW.

Russell holds a B.A. in American History from Columbia University and an M.B.A. in Finance from New York University Stern School of Business. He resides in New York City.