John E. Seay, Esq.

The Seay Firm is an entertainment law firm located in Atlanta, Georgia. We are artist advocates, dedicated to advising and protecting all manner of artists and arts-related businesses.

Our founder, John Seay, is a former artist with a decade of experience in the entertainment industry as a musician, tour manager, and writer. John spent three years as Of Counsel in the entertainment practice group in the Nashville office of Loeb & Loeb and worked in the legal department at Turner Broadcasting before founding The Seay Firm in 2011.

In 2021, 2022, and 2024, John was named a Top Music Lawyer by Billboard. He has also been recognized as a Georgia Super Lawyer and a Georgia Trend Legal Elite numerous times, both in the fields of entertainment law. John has spoken about entertainment law at SXSW, the Americana Festival, and the AJC Decatur Book Festival, among many others, and is presently Immediate Past Chair of the State Bar of Georgia Entertainment & Sports Law Section.

John is a graduate of the University of Georgia School of Law, where he served as Executive Articles Editor of the Journal of Intellectual Property Law and President of The Sports & Entertainment Law Society. He’s also a father, and lives in Decatur, Georgia, with his two daughters. Follow John on Instagram: @TheSeayFirmLLC.

Recognition

• Billboard Top Music Lawyer (multiple years)
• Georgia Super Lawyers Rising Star in Entertainment Law (multiple years)
  • Awarded to 2.5% of attorneys in Georgia
• Legal Elite in Entertainment Law by Georgia Trend Magazine (multiple years)
  • Awarded to 13 attorneys in Georgia
• AVVO-rated 10.0 “Superb” Top Attorney in Entertainment Law

Professional & Community Activities

• State Bar of Georgia Entertainment & Sports Law Section, Section Chair, Immediate Past Chair
• Member: Recording Academy, National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, and Georgia Lawyers for the Arts

Education

• University of Georgia School of Law, J.D. (2010)
• Birmingham-Southern College, B.A. (2003)

Quoted In

• Rolling Stone – Can Taylor Swift Really Be Banned From Playing Her Old Albums?
• Rolling Stone – What the Messy Legal Battle Over Lil’ Peep’s Death Reveals
• CNN – ‘Joker’ uses a song by convicted pedophile Gary Glitter. He’s probably making money off it
• Bloomberg – Why Can’t Taylor Swift Perform Her Own Songs? It’s Complicated.
• Quartz – A Bulgarian scheme scammed Spotify for $1 million – without breaking a single law

Selected Publications

• Why Pandora Wants to Pay Less and What it Means for Licensing Reform, Copyright, St. B. Ga. Ent. & Sports L. Sec. Newsl.) (2013)
• You Look Complicated Today: Representing an Illegal Graffiti Artist in a Copyright Infringement Case, 20 J. Intell. Prop. L. (2012)
• Legislative Strategies for Enabling the Success of Online Music Purveyors, 17 UCLA Ent. L. Rev. 163 (2010)
• Hang ‘Em High: Will the Recording Industry Association of America’s New Plan to Posse Up With Internet Service Providers in the Fight Against Online Music Piracy Finally Tame the Wild Internet?, 16 J. Intell. Prop. L. 269 (2009)

The Seay Firm is located at 750 Piedmont Avenue NE, Atlanta, GA 30308. Call (404) 856-6721 or contact us to schedule an appointment.