By Andrew Cohen
As co-editor-in-chief of the Berkeley Journal of Entertainment & Sports Law, 3L Cassidi Mignuolo knows full well the issues under that tent are rapidly evolving — and expanding.
She recently played a key role in helping UC Berkeley Law partner with the university’s Haas School of Business for PLAY, a student-led conference connecting people seeking greater involvement with media, entertainment, and technology through exposure to leading industry thought leaders. The daylong event featured C-suite executives, industry leaders, and other experts in media, entertainment, technology, sports, gaming, music, film, and television.
The conference’s theme, Adapting to Disruption in the Digital Era, explored the changing themes, players, talent, and ideas across entertainment, social media, creator economy, gaming, music, AI, and other areas.
Mignuolo moderated a keynote discussion with alum Daniel Schacht ’08, a partner at Donahue Fitzgerald who heads the firm’s music and entertainment practice and co-chairs its intellectual property practice group. Schacht represents major clients — including world renowned musicians and companies and China’s largest online content distributor — and teaches Music Law at UC Berkeley Law.
Also involved in several other student organizations such as First Generation Professionals, the Reproductive Justice Project, and the Women of Berkeley Law, Mignuolo will begin work this fall in the commercial litigation group at Venable in Los Angeles, where she was a summer associate last year.
Below, she describes how her journal helped develop the conference, the benefits of partnering with another school on campus, and what hot-topic issues emerged.
How did the journal get involved in partnering with Berkeley Haas for this conference?
The Haas Digital Media & Entertainment Club contacted our journal after one of our board members recommended they reach out to us to see how we could collaborate with their conference, since we also host a similar Berkeley Law Sports & Entertainment Conference every year. The initial meeting was between the lead organizers for their annual PLAY Conference and myself to discuss how BJESL could participate. We ultimately decided it would be extremely beneficial to both of our organizations if BJESL could host a panel or keynote speaker during the conference, incentivizing our law students to attend and facilitating networking connections between UC Berkeley Law and Berkeley Haas.
What did the planning work entail?
Throughout the planning process, our main task was securing a speaker and publicizing the event for the student body. We also were able to bring the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology in as a co-sponsor to help fund the event itself. This was a great opportunity for UC Berkeley Law to make a meaningful contribution to the event, so it was wonderful that BCLT was willing to jump onboard.
Why are partnerships like this beneficial for law students?
They’re extremely important for law students to get outside of their comfort zone and leave the law school bubble. With all the amazing conferences and networking opportunities that UC Berkeley Law provides, I think we rarely see an event that brings in professionals from other fields in this way. By collaborating with Berkeley Haas, our law students were able to hear from key players in the business world — many of whom they could potentially work with in the future — and gain crucial insight into the entertainment and media industries.
How was the conference theme of adapting to disruption in the digital era chosen, and why is that such an important topic currently?
The conference theme was chosen by the organizing team from the Haas Digital Media & Entertainment Club. As technology is advancing rapidly, especially the use of AI, many questions have been raised as to the impact of using this technology on the market, content, and future of the industry. By having panels with business executives from every type of media, including music, gaming, and television, we thought this topic would give the audience a platform to have their questions answered — while also contemplating how the use of technology will affect their role, either on the business or legal side.
What was your approach in moderating the intermediate keynote with Daniel Schacht ’08, and what were your main takeaways from his remarks?
My goal was to cater to potential questions both law and business students would have for an accomplished lawyer in the media and entertainment space. Daniel had previously given talks on challenges brought by AI as well as the relationship between licensing and free content based social media, so I wanted to center the conversation on those topics. He was also able to give a solid backdrop of copyright law, including how music and voice likeness rights are affected by AI, that I think was extremely useful for non-law students in understanding potential legal issues their clients could be exposed to in this field.
What type of networking is involved in this event?
Law students were able to attend the full conference, including breakfast, lunch, and an official networking hour at the end of the day. This meant they were able to meet and connect with current Haas students, including the organizers, as well as any panel speakers and their associates. Many of the speakers also stuck around during breaks between panels to meet with students and answer any final questions.
Are there certain issues the journal is prioritizing this semester, and how do those issues dovetail with the topics discussed at the conference?
Our journal will be publishing two articles revolving around copyright issues this year, so the focus on copyright by our keynote speaker was extremely fitting. We will also be featuring a panel at the annual Berkeley Law Sports & Entertainment Conference that is solely focused on how to protect the rights of creators in an era of AI-generated content. This perfectly coincides with the theme of the PLAY Conference and will be an extended version of the discussions there, now with an emphasis on the legal protections rather than the business-side of things.