Kenneth L. Steinthal

With decades of experience in legal issues related to digital audio and audio-visual content distribution, Kenneth I. Steinthal, a King & Spalding LLP senior partner in the IP group, litigates and negotiates transactions on behalf of leading content providers. Often at issue are thorny questions presented by the application of outdated copyright law to today's technologies.

After many years at Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP and Greenberg Traurig LLP, Steinthal joined King & Spalding in 2013. "I started out my career doing antitrust litigation against the likes of ASCAP and BMI," he said, naming groups that represent music content creators. "Then I represented MTV. My career sort of mushroomed as the digital revolution changed so much."

Current and recent clients include Google LLC and its YouTube platform; the Radio Music License Committee; National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service; Paramount Global and Sony Music Entertainment's The Orchard subsidiary.

Steinthal represents Google and its music streaming offerings in the Web V Copyright Royalty Board proceedings with the recording industry to determine statutory royalty rates for digital performances of sound recordings made by non-interactive music streaming services under the Copyright Act. Determination of Rates and Terms for Digital Performance of Sound Recordings (Web V), 19-crb-0005-WR (Copyright Royalty Bd., filed Oct. 29, 2019).

"The industry wanted a substantial per play rate increase," Steinthal said, "and this is a matter which is of critical import to the economics of the music streaming industry."

The defendant is SoundExchange, a collective rights management organization representing the record industry. Following a five-week virtual Zoom trial in the summer of 2020, a 300-page decision issued in June 2021 largely rejected the labels' positions and adopted much of Google's argument to minimize any rate increases.

SoundExchange appealed the CRB's decision to the DC Circuit, which issued its decision affirming the Copyright Royalty Board's decision -- and its reliance on Google's arguments in particular -- on July 28, 2023.

"Google's position was essentially adopted," Steinthal said. "These streaming companies create the technology that enable the recording industry to grow revenues for the artists."

More broadly, Steinthal traced the current state of streaming services to the fallout from the Napster debacle a quarter-century ago. Free music from the file-sharing service led to widespread lawlessness that ended with lawsuits, Napster's bankruptcy and the development of new online models of music delivery.

"Napster set everyone back, and we're still adjusting to the new digital world," Steinthal said. "Our clients helped the industry resuscitate itself post-Napster by creating ways that content can be fairly enjoyed and distributed."

-- John Roemer