Mandalay K. Martin

Mandy Martin counsels businesses, entrepreneurs, and creative professionals where intellectual property, business interests, and complex disputes intersect.

Her background combines legal training with firsthand experience in the music industry and an understanding of the business considerations that often accompany a client’s legal concerns.

Intellectual Property

Mandy’s intellectual property practice encompasses both the protection and commercial use of intellectual property and disputes involving valuable intellectual assets. She assists individuals and businesses with copyright and trademark registration and protection, trademark clearance and portfolio matters, intellectual property licensing, confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements, ownership disputes, cease-and-desist matters, and Digital Millennium Copyright Act issues.

Her practice addresses intellectual property at every stage, from protection and commercialization to disputes involving copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets. Mandy approaches intellectual property not simply as a legal right, but often as a significant business asset. Understanding who owns that asset, how it may be used, and how it should be protected can be critical to preserving its value and the opportunities it creates.

Entertainment & Creative Business Law

Mandy’s connection to the music industry began long before she entered the legal profession. A vocalist and saxophonist, she performed while studying music at Louisiana State University and played saxophone on Zydeco musician Sean Ardoin’s Grammy-nominated album Full Circle. She also worked at a live music venue in Baton Rouge, where conversations with working musicians gave her insight into the business relationships and legal challenges artists encounter as their careers develop.

Those experiences helped shape her decision to pursue entertainment and intellectual property law and ultimately to earn both a graduate degree in the music industry and a law degree. Her experience includes song ownership and chain-of-title matters, rights management, and drafting and reviewing recording, producer, songwriter, publishing, synchronization, licensing, and other entertainment agreements. In evaluating these relationships, Mandy considers how contractual terms may affect ownership, compensation, creative control, and future opportunities.

Business & Commercial Law

Mandy advises businesses and entrepreneurs on matters involving entity formation, commercial agreements, transactional due diligence, regulatory analysis, and risk assessment. Her experience includes partnership and joint venture agreements, vendor and software-as-a-service agreements, as well as employment matters involving agreements, terminations, and discrimination issues.

Her practice encompasses both transactional matters and business disputes, allowing her to consider how commercial relationships should be structured, where conflicts may develop, and how thoughtful planning can reduce risk. When disputes arise, she approaches them with an understanding of both the legal issues involved and the business interests at stake.

Professional License Defense

For licensed professionals, a regulatory investigation, disciplinary complaint, or licensing issue can place years of education, training, professional reputation, and livelihood at risk.

Mandy represents licensed professionals in administrative and disciplinary matters, with experience involving healthcare professionals and other regulated occupations. Her work encompasses licensing applications, investigations, disciplinary proceedings, hearings, and related administrative processes. She approaches these matters with careful preparation and measured advocacy, recognizing that the consequences often extend well beyond the immediate proceeding.

Protecting What Clients Have Built

Across her practice, Mandy’s work shares a common purpose: protecting the value of what clients have worked to create and build.

She believes this is particularly important for emerging artists and creative professionals. Early in their careers, creators may underestimate both the value of their intellectual property and the negotiating leverage their talent provides when presented with agreements by record labels, publishers, producers, and others in the industry. Mandy believes legal counsel can be most valuable before an unfavorable agreement is signed or a dispute develops—when clients still have the opportunity to understand their rights, protect what they have created, and make informed decisions about what comes next.

That same perspective informs Mandy’s work across her practice. Whether protecting intellectual property, advising a business, resolving a dispute, or defending a professional license, she seeks to understand not only the immediate legal issue, but also what the client has built and what may be at stake. Her goal is to provide thoughtful, forward-looking counsel that protects those interests while helping clients move confidently toward what comes next.

Areas of Focus

• Intellectual Property
• Entertainment Law
• Business & Commercial Law
• Professional License Defense
• Civil Litigation

Representative Experience

• Addressed intellectual property disputes involving copyright ownership, trademark rights, trade secrets, cease-and-desist demands, and Digital Millennium Copyright Act takedown procedures.
• Analyzed song ownership and chain-of-title issues, including conflicting copyright ownership claims involving musical works.
• Drafted and reviewed recording, producer, songwriter, publishing, synchronization, licensing, and other agreements involving entertainment industry relationships.
• Assisted businesses with entity formation and commercial matters, including partnership, joint venture, vendor, software-as-a-service, and employment agreements.
• Handled contract and employment disputes involving businesses and individuals, including matters arising from commercial and workplace relationships.
• Represented licensed professionals in regulatory and disciplinary matters involving licensing applications, investigations, administrative proceedings, and related professional licensing issues.

Admissions

Tennessee

U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee

Professional Memberships

Nashville Bar Association

Women in Music

Education

University of Miami School of Law

Juris Doctor, cum laude
Dean’s Merit Scholarship — Full Academic Scholarship
Our Lady of Good Counsel Scholarship

University of Miami Frost School of Music

Master of Arts in Music Industry
Teaching Assistant — Full Academic Scholarship

Louisiana State University

Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance, summa cum laude
Minor in Psychology
University Medal Recipient
College Honors with Honors Thesis