Your Legal CONSULTING Experts in the World of Arts and Entertainment

Engage Hector Almaguer to help you navigate the complex landscape of Music, TV, Film, and New Media

Reach out to us and find out more

Your Legal CONSULTING Experts in the World of Arts and Entertainment

Engage Hector Almaguer to help you navigate the complex landscape of Music, TV, Film, and New Media

Reach out to us and find out more

About Alma Law Firm

Hector Almaguer | Entertainment, Technology, and Media

Senior transactional counsel for entertainment, technology, and media matters. Thirty years of practice across music, film, television, live events, streaming platforms, and Web3, representing record labels, studios, platforms, sports federations, and individual artists and athletes. Work covers the United States, Latin America, and Europe, in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. Former in‑house at Paramount/Viacom, Warner Music Group, Discovery Communications, Universal Music Group, HBO Latin America Group, and Roc Nation. Former Chief Legal Officer at Trebel Music. Currently Of Counsel at Newell Law Group.

Current representative matters

FIFA World Cup 2026.Primary outside music counsel to the world's largest sporting event, covering the full music and live entertainment program tied to the tournament across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Scope includes concert and live event production agreements, featured artist agreements for the official tournament soundtrack, synchronization and master use licensing, in‑stadium and broadcast PRO licensing across the three host nations, talent and producer agreements, sponsorship and brand integration terms, and NIL and commercial partnership exploitation across the artist slate. Work spans multi‑party deal structuring among FIFA, production companies, host cities, record labels, publishers, and individual artists, with financial, rights, and regulatory architecture built to withstand the scale and public scrutiny of the tournament.
Kiki Garcia Catalog / Reservoir Media.Structured a two‑stage acquisition, an income‑stream purchase ahead of copyright reversion followed by an option on some of the most important compositions that defined the "Miami Sound." Negotiated and closed the Asset Purchase Agreement and Option Agreement and executed the termination strategy.
Individual and institutional clients (through consultancy and Of Counsel association with Newell Law Group).Ongoing representation of Floyd Mayweather, T.I., George Foreman III, Domani Harris, Array Play / Array Filmworks, Grand Hustle Films, and Anne Akiko Meyers. Matters include recording, publishing, producer, side‑artist, live performance, sponsorship, joint venture, venue, music clearance, and film and television development and production agreements.

About Alma Law Firm

Prior in‑house practice

Trebel Music (2022 to 2024), Chief Legal Officer. Built the legal function end to end for an international ad‑supported music, video, and podcast streaming platform. Closed content licensing with every major label and every major publisher. Structured the contract management, rights tracking, employment, compliance, and data privacy infrastructure. Managed international advertising, content, and privacy compliance across multiple jurisdictions and led global anti‑piracy coordination with trade organizations and NGOs.

Roc Nation (2021 to 2022), Vice President, Head of Business and Legal Affairs. Supervised all business and legal affairs across the record label, distribution, publishing, artist management, and TV and film divisions. Lead negotiator on deals involving Jay‑Z and the full Roc Nation roster. Built rights management SOPs and option‑tracking contract lifecycle systems across divisions.

Warner Music Group (2021), Vice President, Business and Legal Affairs (interim). Ran the business affairs department covering production, influencer, ad tech, SaaS, merchandising, music licensing, and digital retail agreements. Advised Alicia Keys on deal matters and worked directly with the divisional President and CFO.

Discovery Communications (2016 to 2020), Vice President, Business and Legal Affairs. Business affairs for HGTV, Food Network, Discovery, TLC, Discovery Kids, Animal Planet, and Turbo across US Hispanic and Latin America. Negotiated large‑volume and output deals with all major studios, managed PRO relationships and music clearance operations throughout Latin America, and coordinated tax incentive programs in the U.S., Canada, and Latin America.

Paramount / Viacom (VIMN) (2012 to 2016), Vice President and General Counsel, Business and Legal Affairs. Senior executive covering MTV, Nickelodeon, VH1, Comedy Central, and Paramount across US Hispanic and Latin America. Structured a new music label vertical for VIMN and closed its distribution with a major music company, a first in VIMN's history. Managed live event production and sponsorship integrations for Kids Choice Awards, Rock in Rio, World Stage, and MTV Unplugged.

Universal Music Group / Vivendi(2007 to 2012), Senior Vice President, Business and Legal Affairs, and Senior Director for the Codeblack joint venture. US Hispanic and Latin America music affairs, plus original production, theatrical, home video, television, and new media for Codeblack. Resolved guild claims with SAG, DGA, and WGA. UMG representative within IFPI.

HBO Latin America Group(2002 to 2007), Senior Director, Business and Legal Affairs. General counsel to HBO Latin America management on corporate matters and business operations. Coordinated M&A transactions and strategic joint ventures supporting the region's expansion. Directed the business affairs department covering rights clearance for program acquisitions and original productions, and negotiated licensing, program distribution, music licensing, composer, production, co‑production, and talent agreements. Managed commercial exploitation of intellectual property through the marketing and promotions departments. Supported venture partners including Sony Entertainment Television, Buena Vista Television, Warner Bros. Distribution, and HBO Entertainment, and provided legal support to the acquisitions, original productions, programming, traffic, quality control, and royalty departments. Supervised the legal department staff.

Teaching

University of Miami, Frost School of Music(2013 to 2019), Adjunct Professor. Taught undergraduate and graduate courses on music industry contracts, covering recording, management, producer, distribution, merchandising, and licensing agreements.

Areas of practice

Music, film, television, and new media transactions. Intellectual property exploitation, rights reversions, and catalog monetization. International licensing and distribution. Live event, sponsorship, and sports‑federation agreements. Web3 and digital assets, including Howey analysis, token structuring, custody, smart contract risk allocation, DAO governance, and RWA tokenization. SaaS, ad tech, and platform agreements. Joint ventures, M&A, and content acquisition. Data privacy and international compliance.

Background

Juris Doctor, University of Miami School of Law. Bachelor of Studio Music and Jazz, University of Miami School of Music. Grammy‑nominated record producer and composer with credits on albums and national commercials in the general and Hispanic markets. Clio Award winner for the national general‑market Rock the Vote campaign. Ten years prior to law practice operating an independent record label, three music publishing companies, and a production company. IMDb: nm4520836.

Contact: info@almalawfirm.com | | linkedin.com/in/hectoralmaguer | IMDB Direct link: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4520836/

Your Legal CONSULTING Experts in the World of Arts and Entertainment

Your Legal CONSULTING Experts in the World of Arts and Entertainment

About Alma Law Firm

Current representative matters

About Alma Law Firm

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