The range of potential claims include:

– Band splits/departure of a member.
– Breach of confidence.
– Breach of contract e.g. of a booking agency contract, management contract,
music publishing contract, or recording contract.
– Breach of fiduciary duty under a management contract – which is linked to
claims for equitable compensation, rescission, and contract vitiation on the
grounds of undue influence and the doctrine of restraint of trade.
– Image rights (also known as ‘personality rights’ or ‘publicity rights’) i.e. an
artist’s proprietary rights in their personality, which is linked to branding
and endorsement. In England and Wales these rights are not codified.
Unauthorised use of a person’s name and image is litigated by claiming for
breach of contract; infringement of a trade mark; passing off; defamation and
malicious falsehood; breach of confidence; breach of advertising rules; or
breach of privacy.
– Infringement of copyright, plagiarism and sampling without consent.
– Violation of moral rights.
– Passing Off.
– Royalties – calculation and deductibles.
– Share of royalties – claims by session musicians.
– Songwriter split disputes.
– Trade mark infringement – e.g. the band’s name, which is linked to ownership of ‘goodwill’ in the name.

See my published articles:

– ‘Commercial Mediation of Music Disputes: https://lnkd.in/e-6R–iv
– ‘Commercial Mediation of Music Disputes.’ Published in the Law Society.
Gazette 01.12.2023: https://lnkd.in/e2BDGGfZ
– ‘Golden rule in commercial mediation.’ Published online in the Law Society Gazette, 13.05.2024: Golden rule in commercial mediation | Law Gazette: https://lnkd.in/eF_4KtcJ

By way of a refresher, in May I am going back and taking a ‘deep-dive’ into the ‘Mediation of Commercial Music & Performers’ Rights Disputes’, and will post about this in June.

I am going offline until then.

Meanwhile, Music Law, Performers’ Rights and Mediation Geeks (of which I am proud to call myself one!) can read my ‘PRACTICE NOTE ABOUT THE MEDIATION OF MUSIC & PERFORMERS’ RIGHTS DISPUTES’ Carl Islam [Draft 25.05.2024], on the ‘Mediation of Music & Performers’ Rights Disputes’ page at www.carlislam.co.uk. Please note that this is an incomplete work in progress. You will need to scroll down to find this. It runs to several hundred pages, so do not print it off! I have included it on my website for my own quick research reference and you are welcome to browse.

The next Institute of Art & Law Study Forum is all day on Saturday 3 May 2025 – https://lnkd.in/ezVdgBkM

The topics and speakers are:

– ‘The Cassirer litigation against Spain in the California courts’ by Anna O’Connell, President and Founder, ADA Arte, Madrid, Spain.

– ‘NFTs and crypto assets reassessed’ by Dr Kristijan Poljanec, Assistant Professor, University of Zagreb.

– ‘Negotiation as a path to resolution in artist disputes’ by Aernoud Bourdrez, lawyer and artist representative, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

– ‘Recent disputes over art in the English courts’ by Angharad Start Barrister, 3 Verulam Buildings.

 ‘The Victorious Youth case and the courts: Italy v The Getty Trust’ by Dr -Alessandro Chechi, Adjunct Professor, University of Siena.

– ‘Human rights and the Statue Wars’ by Professor Tom Lewis, Nottingham Law School, NTU.

These are all highly topical Art Law issues.

So, this is a rare privilege to hear what the distinguished panel of speakers will have to say.

In particular, some of the ‘negotiation’ principles that Aernoud Bourdrez, will discuss, may also be relevant to both Mediators and Mediation Advocates in International Cultural Heritage Disputes, which involve state actors. If it is relevent to his talk, and it may not be, I will ask the following Q:

‘In a Cultural Heritage Repatriation claim, can a Mediated dialogue about the joint-exploitation of IPR in the cultural artefact, potentially reveal common ground that can result in a ‘creative deal’ about: possession, ownership, and lending of the artefact, and the development of a wider ‘cultural exchange relationship’, between the state actors involved?’

I have a special interest in ‘negotiation’ in this context, as the working title of my next book is ‘Mediation of International Cultural Heritage Disputes – Anachronism, Orientalism, Culture, Ethics, Law, IPR & Contracts.’ – See the ‘International Cultural Heritage Disputes’ page at www.carlislam.co.uk.

This will be written as both a multi-disciplinary academic course text book for Law Students, and as a handbook for Mediators and Mediation Advocates – globally.

The book will examine and discuss Mediation and Mediation Advocacy, in the context of:

(a) Legal claims for the return to their rightful owner of stolen antiquities, predicated upon title (‘Restitution claims’); and

(b)  Moral claims for the return of illegitimately removed cultural artefacts to the source community or state, based upon:

(i)  International Cultural Heritage law (including Treaties);

(ii)  jus cogens and erga omnes norms of International Law (including ‘inalienability of sovereignty’);

(iii) the existence of ‘Fiduciary Principles’ under International Law;

(iv) ethical principles grounded in moral philosophy (including reparative justice, distributive justice and natural law); and

(vi) the evolving concept of an artefact having and belonging to a cultural home/place i.e. a ‘cultural homeland.’

(‘Repatriation claims’).

In short – ’litigation risk’, i.e. uncertainty of judicial outcome and irrecoverable costs incurred – for all parties involved.

Causes of uncertainty in advising about legal merits include:

·       Inheritance Act cases are evidentially highly ‘fact-sensitive’ claims.
·       While the purpose of the Inheritance (Provision For Family And Dependants) Act 1975 is to make ‘reasonable provision’ for an ‘eligible claimant’ having regard to the matters set out in s.3, the s.3 process itself, is not a ‘weighing’ or ‘balancing’ process.
·       No single factor can determine the success or failure of a claim, i.e. there is never any guarantee of success.
·       The answer to the threshold question ‘has reasonable financial provision been made for the Claimant ?’, is arrived at by a judge making a ‘value judgment’ based upon all of the s.3 factors.
·       The court has no jurisdiction to rewrite a will simply because the scheme of gifting under its terms is, or is perceived to be, unfair.
·       The exercise of the court’s powers comes into play where the threshold question is answered in favour of the Claimant, however, in the case law, there has been a wide divergence between the views as to ‘quantum’ taken at first instance and on appeal.
·       Furthermore, relatively little of the case law has been judicially expounded at a level where the judgment would create a precedent.
·       As Allardice concludes in ‘Of greatest benefit’ (2015) T.E.L & T.J 170, 8-12 (see the 5th Edition of Ross on Inheritance Act Claims (2023) para E-069) – ‘while the case law provides a picture of the 1975 Act landscape, it reveals very few landmarks.’

So, any advice given by a Solicitor or Barrister about the likely judicial outcome of litigation in an Inheritance Act claim, must be taken with a large dose of salt, because no party can ever be certain with any degree of mathematical precision, about what the actual outcome will turn out to be in reality. Particularly, if the case is being heard in a County Court.

That is because no matter what your legal advisors may say, in ‘reality’ i.e. because of the litigation risks highlighted above, the case law, and lack of judicial guidance and precedents in these cases, there is no such thing as an ‘iron-clad’ Inheritance Act claim. That is a fiction.

In other words, these cases are always high risk litigation i.e. a gamble!

So, unless a Claimant has to go to court for some reason, then why not do a deal instead in Mediation?

My next live Zoom webinar to be presented to members of the Standing Conference of Mediation Advocates worldwide in 2025 is entitled – ‘Mediation Advocacy in the Tax-Efficient Settlement of Inheritance Act, Beneficial Interest & Proprietary Estoppel Claims.’

This is provisionally scheduled for the afternoon of Thursday 20 November 2025.

‘The Black Books are the minutes from the meetings of the Inn’s Council, which date back to 1422. They are so called because they are bound in black leather.’ https://lnkd.in/ey32RKB6

I am a member of Lincoln’s Inn, which is where I was called to the Bar. So, for me personally, this is a great honour that was unimaginable when I was a 2nd 6 month pupil, in what is now Maitland Chambers.

After completing pupillage I re-qualified as a solicitor.

Upon passing what in those days were known as the ‘Law Society Finals’ (of which I was required to pass half the course – including the ‘Accounts’ and ‘Tax’ exams, whilst simulateously working as an articled clerk in the ‘Trusts’, ‘Commercial Property’, and ‘Company and Commercial’ departments of a leading West End International Law firm), I worked as a commercial solicitor in both industry and private practice, until returning to the Bar, when I joined 1 EC Barristers – which in those days was known as 1 Essex Court.

The book was donated to Lincoln’s Inn Library at my request, by the Law Society of England and Wales.

The 2nd Edition of the ‘Contentious Probate Handbook’ was published in print by the Law Society in February.

The Law is stated as at 1 September 2024.

You can order the book using one of the following links:

– https://lnkd.in/dHtHQjBz (who deliver worldwide).
– https://lnkd.in/ejzMFjyn.
– https://lnkd.in/eQeZaqC8.

My next live Zoom webinar to be presented to members of the Standing Conference of Mediation Advocates worldwide in 2025 is entitled – ‘Mediation Advocacy in the Tax-Efficient Settlement of Inheritance Act, Beneficial Interest & Proprietary Estoppel Claims.’

The working title of my next book is ‘Mediation of International Cultural Heritage Disputes – Anachronism, Orientalism, Culture, Ethics & Law’ – See the ‘International Cultural Heritage Disputes’ page at www.carlislam.co.uk.

https://www.lincolnsinn.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Recent-acquisitions-Apr-2025.pdf

This is where ‘Don Quixote’ was conceived and Cervantes began to write one of the greatest novels in Renaissance literature. His ‘impossible dream’ was created inside this prison cell!

https://lnkd.in/euQ4QzSH

‘Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra … 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 NS) was a Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world’s pre-eminent novelists. He is best known for his novel Don Quixote, a work considered as the first modern novel. The novel has been labelled by many well-known authors as the “best book of all time” and the “best and most central work in world literature”.

Much of his life was spent in relative poverty and obscurity, which led to many of his early works being lost. Despite this, his influence and literary contribution are reflected by the fact that Spanish is often referred to as “the language of Cervantes”.

In 1569, Cervantes was forced to leave Spain and move to Rome, where he worked in the household of a cardinal. In 1570, he enlisted in a Spanish Navy infantry regiment, and was badly wounded at the Battle of Lepanto in October 1571 and lost the use of his left arm and hand. He served as a soldier until 1575, when he was captured by Barbary pirates; after five years in captivity, he was ransomed, and returned to Madrid.

His first significant novel, titled La Galatea, was published in 1585, but he continued to work as a purchasing agent, and later as a government tax collector. Part One of Don Quixote was published in 1605, and Part Two in 1615. Other works include the 12 Novelas ejemplares (Exemplary Novels); a long poem, the Viaje del Parnaso (Journey to Parnassus); and Ocho comedias y ocho entremeses (Eight Plays and Eight Interludes). The novel Los trabajos de Persiles y Sigismunda (The Travails of Persiles and Sigismunda), was published posthumously in 1616.

The cave of Medrano (also known as the casa de Medrano) in Argamasilla de Alba, which has been known since the beginning of the 17th century, and according to the tradition of Argamasilla de Alba, was the prison of Cervantes, [is] the place where he conceived and began to write Don Quixote.’ (Wikipedia).

For your Easter reading, if you have not read Don Quixote, I recommend the English translation by John Rutherford. In this masterpiece Cervantes experimented with various literary devices including humour.

Written during the Catholic ‘Inquisition’ in Spain, subtly woven into the fabic of what on the surface appears to be a comic story, is a profound moral tale, that resonates today.

For Cervantes, who was born into the ‘Golden’ era, when Spain dominated the world, experienced what it meant to be a citizen of the most powerful nation on earth, only to endure a lifetime of watching this ‘super-power’ fall and decline against the discontentment of its people.

https://lnkd.in/eJFz9Yid

In spite of the unimaginable hardships endured by Cervantes inside this prison cell – ‘Genius’ triumphed over Adversity.’

The result – a literary legacy for all mankind that has withstood the test of time and remains relevant today.

That is the power of imagination and words!

1st – Stop shouting at each other!

2nd – Listen.

3rd – Think.

4th – Talk to each other.

‘3RD PRINCIPLE – EMPATHETIC COMMUNICATION – LISTEN TO UNDERSTAND IN ORDER TO BE UNDERSTOOD.

The only way to get someone to do something is to make the other person want to do it. Remember that when dealing with people as opposed to machines, you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but with creatures of emotion, bristling with prejudices and motivated by pride and vanity.
Instead of condemning MA2/P2, what you need to do is to try and understand them. Then, you can understand why they have behaved as they did. As MA1/P1, you must put yourself into the shoes of MA2/P2, in order to see things as they do, i.e. each MA must understand the ‘opposing’ point of view through the lens of the other MA/P. Since only unsatisfied needs can motivate, lower-level needs must be satisfied before higher-level needs can become motivators (see further, Maslow, AH (2022) A Theory of Human Motivation, Wilder Publications).

In the hierarchy of human needs, next to ‘physical survival’, the greatest need
of a human being is ‘psychological survival’, i.e. to be understood, affirmed,
validated, appreciated, and treated with respect and dignity.

“Appreciate their point of view. Understand it. It is very important to appreciate the way they see it. Even if you don’t agree, say that it merits serious consideration. Don’t say that they are wrong. Appreciate their self-esteem. Acknowledge that the other person has been heard. Be prepared to argue their case better than they can before you reply.”

(The late Professor Roger Fisher in a two-hour conversation with the author in his study at Harvard Law School during a research visit as a Scholar from King’s College London to Harvard University in April 2002).

When you listen to a person with empathy, you give them ‘psychological oxygen’. By affirming their vital psychological need for understanding and acknowledgement, you can then move forward by becoming partners in jointly solving a shared problem. When you listen with empathy you open yourself up to being influenced. Being open to influence is the key to influencing others. Just as you can now see a problem through the other P’s eyes, so can P2 see the problem through P1’s eyes. This opens the door to the creation of synergy by acknowledging, exploring and exploiting the interdependence paradigm, see ‘Hidden value’ above. Thus, when parties in dispute sincerely and deeply understand each other, then they can open a hidden door to creative settlement in mediation. That is because their ‘differences’ have been transformed from being obstacles to communication and progress, into ‘stepping-stones’ to synergy. In other words, the MAs can help their lay clients to set themselves free from the past, by working together to bring about a better future.’

[Extract about Mediation Advocacy from the 2nd Edition of the Contentious Probate Handbook (2025)].

The 2nd Edition of the ‘Contentious Probate Handbook’, is published in print by the Law Society of England and Wales. The Law is stated as at 1 September 2024. You can order the book using one of the following links:

– https://www.wildy.com/isbn/9781784462345/contentious-probate-handbook-practice-and-precedents-paperback-38-cd-rom-law-society-publishing. NB Wildy’s deliver worldwide.
– https://www.amazon.co.uk/Contentious-Probate-Handbook-Practice-Precedents/dp/1784462349
– https://bookshop.lawsociety.org.uk/p/contentious-probate-hand-2nd-edition-paperback

My next live Zoom webinar to be presented to members of the Standing Conference of Mediation Advocates worldwide in 2025 is entitled ‘Mediation Advocacy in the Tax-Efficient Settlement of Inheritance Act, Beneficial Interest & Proprietary Estoppel Claims.’

This is provisionally scheduled for the afternoon of Thursday 20 November 2025.

The working title of my next book is ‘Mediation of International Cultural Heritage Disputes – Anachronism, Orientalism, Culture, Ethics & Law’ – See the ‘International Cultural Heritage Disputes’ page at www.carlislam.co.uk

In August 2026 I am also planning to launch a YouTube Channel – ‘Art and Civilization.’ See www.artandcivilization.tv.

I have obtained permission to change the title of my talk to members of the SCMA worldwide on 20 November 2025 to – ‘Mediation Advocacy in the Tax-Efficient Settlement of Inheritance Act, Beneficial Interest & Proprietary Estoppel Claims.’

The working title of my next book is ‘Mediation of International Cultural Heritage Disputes – Anachronism, Orientalism, Culture, Ethics & Law’ – See the ‘International Cultural Heritage Disputes’ page at www.carlislam.co.uk.

This will be written as both a multi-disciplinary academic course text book for Law Students, and as a handbook for Mediators and Mediation Advocates – globally. To view the current chapter structure, please visit the ‘International Cultural Heritage Disputes’ page at www.carlislam.co.uk. I have already started work on the book, and will be able to devote all of my available free time to it, after I have written the article above. That is likely to be from September 2025 onwards.

In August 2026, I am also planning to launch a YouTube Channel – ‘Art and Civilization.’ For more information, Google – www.artandcivilization.tv.

Although the ‘Art and Civilization’ and ‘Mediation of International Cultural Heritage Disputes’ projects are personally very close to my heart, I felt that I had to close the circle of writing I have undertaken and talks I have given, over the last 4 years about Mediation and Mediation Advocacy (i.e. facilitated negotiation) in Trust and Estate Disputes, by tackling Mediation Advocacy in the principal forms of claim associated with Contentious Probate.

Inheritance Act, Beneficial Interest and Proprietary Estoppel Claims are not Contentious Probate Claims, but are often brought as part of a complex multiple, and sometimes ‘kitchen-sink’, claim scenario. Throw tax-efficient settlement into the negotiation mix, and the result is a series of practical challenges for both Mediators and Mediation Advocates about which, as far as I am aware, nobody has yet presented a talk.

So, be prepared to have both your eyes opened wide and your imagination stretched, because for the amateur and the unwary, both Mediation and Mediation Advocacy in these disputes, is potentially a mine-field. That of course is both a challenge and an opportunity!

My 8th book, the 2nd Edition of the Contentious Probate Handbook (2025), which was published by the Law Society last month, is now on display, and can be read, in all four Libraries of the Inns of Court – Lincoln’s Inn, Inner Temple, Middle Temple and Gray’s Inn.

It is also available to read in the Library of the Law Society at Chancery Lane.

You can order the book using one of the following links:
– https://lnkd.in/dHtHQjBz. (NB Wildy’s deliver worldwide).
– https://lnkd.in/ejzMFjyn.
– https://lnkd.in/eQeZaqC8.

The book is also on sale at Waterstones and WH Smith.

My next live Zoom webinar to be presented to members of the Standing Conference of Mediation Advocates worldwide in 2025 is entitled – ‘Mediation of International Cultural Heritage Disputes – Anachronism, Orientalism, Culture, Ethics & Law.’

This is provisionally scheduled for the afternoon of Thursday 20 November 2025.

That is also the working title of my next book, which will be written as both a multi-disciplinary academic course textbook for Law Students, and as a handbook for Mediators and Mediation Advocates – globally. See the ‘International Cultural Heritage Disputes’ page at www.carlislam.co.uk. Over the weekend, I started work on the ‘Ethics’ component of both the talk and the book. See also my post below – ‘Reframing International Law by adopting an intercivilizational” paradigm?’

If art is a window into the soul of a culture and ancient civilization, then you would expect there to be a coherent body of law known as the ‘International Law of Art and Civilization’. However, you will struggle to find a legal textbook about the subject, even though the subject-matter is as old as time.

There are books about International Cultural Heritage Law and Practice, whose disparate sources include:

·       International Law Treaties.
·       Jus Cogens (absolute) and Erga Omnes (universal) norms of International Law (including ‘inalienability of sovereignty’).
·       ‘Fiduciary Principles’ under International Law.
·       Museum Codes of Practice.
·       Ethical principles grounded in moral philosophy (including reparative justice, distributive justice and natural law).

However, ‘Rights and Civilizations – A History and Philosophy of International Law’ (2010), by Gustavo Gozzi (which was translated into English in 20I9) and published by Cambridge University Press, is one of the few books that traces the history of International Law, in order to explain how the West sought to justify its own ‘colonial’ conquests through an ideology that revolved around the idea of its own assumed ‘superiority’, thereby exposing the fallacy at the heart of International Law – that while the Western conception styles itself as being ‘universal’, it is in fact ‘relative’.

Since the emergence of a geopolitically ‘multipolar’/’multi-nodal’ world order and of ‘BRICS’, there has been an urgent need for an ‘intercivilizational’ approach to international law. This requires a dialogue about reform, between key stakeholders.

In my next book – ‘Mediation of International Cultural Heritage Disputes – Anachronism, Orientalism, Culture, Ethics & Law’, in the context of the Mediation of these disputes, I advocate the adoption by the participants, of an ‘intercivilizational’ approach to international law, as their ‘lodestar’.

In doing so, I explore whether the substantive issues in dispute that divide ‘state actors’ in these disputes, are in fact a potential source of convergence and consensus for their mutual benefit. To view the current chapter structure for the book, please visit the ‘International Cultural Heritage Disputes’ page at www.carlislam.co.uk.

I ask whether the adoption of an ‘intercivilizational’ paradigm to international law, is the key which can unlock the hidden door to the resolution of these seemingly intractable international disputes.

In other words, I wonder – ‘What is the potential power in the Mediation of an International Cultural Heritage Dispute, of reframing International Law by adopting an intercivilizational” paradigm?’

Online ordering links for book:

https://lnkd.in/dHtHQjBz [who deliver worldwide].
https://lnkd.in/ejzMFjyn
https://lnkd.in/eQeZaqC8

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everybody who has helped with the production of the book, and in particular:

·       Toby Graham of Farrer & Co: (https://lnkd.in/dW9wkHhN), who wrote the Foreword.
·       Hugh Series, a consultant in old age psychiatry at the Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust and member of the Faculty of Law at the University of Oxford, who wrote and kindly contributed Appendices A1 (‘Mental Disorders’) and A2 (‘Chronological tables in expert evidence’).
·       Ellen Radley BA PgDip (Law) MAE, a forensic document examiner at the Radley Forensic Document Laboratory (The Radley Forensic Document Laboratory Limited, Queens Meadow, Oakhurst, Grayshott, Hindhead, Surrey GU26 6JW www.docexam.co.uk) who wrote and kindly contributed Appendix A3 (‘Forensic examination of handwriting and questioned
documents’). Ellen is amongst the foremost international experts in forensic document examination.
·       My editors: Nia Cummings, Michelle Afford and Nicholas Catlin, for their eagle-eyed and rigorous diligence, and all of the team at Law Society Publishing, who made this book possible.

As Toby wrote in the Foreword:

‘The Law Society’s Probate Practitioner’s Handbook, now in its 9th edition, has become a popular and widely regarded resource. The continuing growth in the number of will disputes makes an equivalent resource dealing with will disputes essential reading for any practitioner. Carl Islam provides just such a treatment in the present Handbook, now in its 2nd edition, enabling busy practitioners to navigate all aspects of will disputes in eight practical, accessible, and authoritative chapters covering both law and practice at all stages, from preliminary steps
through to trial.’

This is my 8th book, see: https://lnkd.in/dX8CAUkm.