Alice Rudge

Alice qualified as a solicitor in 2017, and joined Russells in 2018 from international law firm Ashurst LLP. Prior to training as a solicitor, Alice interned at the Media Legal Defence Initiative assisting with cross-jurisdictional cases on privacy and media freedom.

Alice acts for a variety of clients across the creative industries (music, film, television, theatre, comedy, and others) and is equally at home acting for an individual as she is for a large company. She advises on a wide variety of legal matters reflecting the diversity of her clients’ businesses, needs and interests. Her practice includes intellectual property, contractual and licensing disputes, company and partnership disputes, and reputation management/privacy.

Alice has a particular interest in and focus on the comedy industry, assisting comedians, talent agents, producers and promoters with legal issues. She regularly attends the Edinburgh Fringe Festival to support new and emerging talent and is, along with the firm, a proud supporter of Funny Women.

She has also acted at the forefront of a number of high-profile music disputes, in particular in relation to the calculation and payment of streaming royalties under pre- or early- digital era contracts. These cases have been closely watched by the music industry due to their potential implications.

Her case highlights since joining Russells include:

• A copyright infringement claim brought against Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber in relation to the song “Memory” from the musical production “Cats” (the claim was struck out in its entirety).
• A dispute between a theatre production company and a US film studio in relation to the right to produce the stage show production of a well-known film.
• A claim by the estate of an internationally-renowned artist and several record and music publishing companies against the attempted enforcement of an Italian copyright injunction in the UK.
• A copyright infringement claim against a well-known heavy metal band alleged to have copied lyrics written by a former lead singer.
• A digital royalty dispute between an independent record label and its artist in relation to the applicable royalty for streaming income under a pre-digital contract.

Alice has volunteered as a supervisor at the Law for the Arts pro bono clinic at Queen Mary Legal Advice Centre and has acted as a member of our Diversity and Inclusion Committee.

“If you can’t get rid of the skeleton in your closet, you’d better teach it to dance.”

– George Bernard Shaw