Rochelle Claerbaut

Biography

Rochelle’s interest in copyright law began during her childhood.  Her great-uncle, Billy Strayhorn, a gifted and prolific composer of famous music including “Take the ‘A’ Train” and “Lush Life”, had not been properly credited or compensated for many of his works.  This issue plagued Rochelle’s family for decades after his death, landing them in federal court when they tried to recapture their copyrights after the passage of the Sonny Bono copyright extension.

Rochelle went to law school not knowing what she would pursue, but dedicated to learning about copyright and trusts/estates.  Fascinated by copyright, Rochelle took the natural next step to trademarks and, while in law school, held internships with her copyright/trademark professor and at the United States Copyright Office.

After law school, Rochelle joined one of the largest IP boutiques in the country and from there, she established her own firm where she represented clients in an array of industries and handled a mix of trademark and copyright prosecution and litigation matters.  In one of her more noteworthy cases, Rochelle successfully represented a pair of highly accomplished jazz musicians in a copyright infringement matter against the #1 hip hop artist at that time.

Rochelle also serves as music supervisor for television and film.  Her IP expertise has been a tremendous asset when facing challenging clearances.  Productions sometimes wish to use material for which the permission parties are not obvious and/or the need for permission is not clear—and the deadlines are often very short.  This experience has been tremendous for Rochelle because it has required her to find non-traditional avenues for making things happen that otherwise seemed impossible.