Profile

Alan S. Clarke is an Atlanta entertainment attorney and litigator and leads the firm's Entertainment, Sports and Media Department. Mr. Clarke represents recording artists, writers, performers, athletes, record labels, producers, managers, authors and others in the entertainment industry. A former Assistant District Attorney, Mr. Clarke is a cum laude graduate of Duke University and holds a law degree from Emory University.

During his law practice, Mr. Clarke has developed expertise in a multitude of entertainment industry law areas including contract drafting and negotiations, corporate law, copyright, rights acquisitions, licensing, infringement and litigation.

Mr. Clarke has served as Chair of the Entertainment and Sports Law Section of the State Bar of Georgia and Chair of the North American Entertainment Sports & IP Law Summit. In 2008, Mr. Clarke received the Georgia Lawyers for the Arts (GLA) Ben White Distinguished Service Award for his “outstanding commitment and dedication to the arts community in Georgia.” Mr. Clarke was recognized as Attorney of the Year in 2014 by Georgia Lawyers for the Arts for providing the most pro bono hours to artists and arts organizations through GLA. He has served as Chair of the Entertainment Law Institute which GLA sponsors with Emory University School of Law. Mr. Clarke is a member of The Recording Academy (the Grammy organization) and NATAS (the Television Academy). Moreover, Mr. Clarke is a Fellow of the Lawyers Foundation of Georgia, an organization of attorneys selected from three percent of the Georgia State Bar membership “whose public and private careers demonstrate outstanding legal abilities and a devotion to their communities.” Mr. Clarke has also served on the boards of several local arts organizations.

Mr. Clarke has lectured on entertainment industry and intellectual property issues before groups such as Emory University School of Law, the Florida Bar Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law Section, Mercer University School of Law, the Levin College of Law at the University of Florida, Georgia State University College of Law, the Dramatists Guild of America, the Gospel Music Association, and NALS – the Association for Legal Professionals. Additionally, he has spoken to attorney groups, with Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Carol Hunstein, on legal professionalism and ethics.

Memberships

Georgia Screen Entertainment Coalition, Steering Committee Member

The Recording Academy (the Grammy Organization), Member

NATAS (the Television Academy), Member

Lawyers Foundation of Georgia, Fellow

State Bar of Georgia, Entertainment and Sports Law Section, former Chair

North American Entertainment Sports & IP Law Summit, former Chair

Entertainment Law Institute, former Chair

Georgia Production Partnership (GPP)

Community Involvement

Actor's Express Theater, Atlanta, former Board Member

Stage Door Players, Dunwoody, former Board Member

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