Steve Masur has over 30 years of experience advising growth and enterprise stage companies on corporate, intellectual property, and strategic issues. He has a deep background in technology, media, and entertainment and has been an early innovator in artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain and digital assets, metaverses, augmented and virtual reality (XR), gaming, social media, mobile, streaming, enterprise software (SAAS), internet ecommerce, and a wide variety of consumer products, including cannabis and food and beverages. Steve brings a high level of legal, business, and strategic pattern recognition to bear on emerging technologies and new markets.
Steve has extensive experience in commercial transactions, venture capital finance, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, strategic and cross-border transactions, as well as pioneering applications of intellectual property, and international regulatory issues. Steve has navigated countless technology build cycles, financing rounds, hypergrowth phases, SPACs, securities offerings, coin, DAO and NFT offerings, restructurings, and many of the challenges inherent in corporate landscapes. He has counseled such clients as Shazam, Virgin Mobile, Yamaha, Diageo, Nielsen, Warner Music Group, Bob Vila and Conde Nast Publications, as well as a wide variety of venture-backed companies addressing new market opportunities.
Steve has been recognized as a “Rising Star” and a “Super Lawyer” and serves on a variety of boards and industry associations. He regularly lectures and writes about major issues in technology, venture capital, emerging industries, blockchain, and AI.
Publications
- Masur, Steve, DAOs are the Punk Rock of Corporate Law, June 20, 2022
- Masur, Steve, What to Do to Qualify for QSBS Exemption, January 31, 2022
- Masur, Steve, How To Qualify For QSBS Exemption, March 5, 2021
- Masur, Steve, The Balancing Test Between Data Privacy and Public Health n a Pandemic, January 12, 2021
- Masur, Steve, Should Independent Contractors Form Loan-Out Companies, or Not?, November 15, 2020
- Masur, Steve, Digital, Social Media, OTT Players Should Play the Long Game, and Stop Unnecessarily Exploiting Content Creators, October 8, 2020
- Masur, Steve, Sync Negotiations: How Much Should You Ask for Your Music?, July 15, 2020
- Masur, Steve, Smart Creatives Use Loan-Out Companies, July 8, 2020
- Masur, Steve, The Ins and Outs of Qualified Small Business Stock, June 10, 2020
- Masur, Steve, Am I More of a C-Corp or and S-Corp?, May 10, 2020
- Masur, Steve, Crypto Mom’s SEC Safe Harbor Proposal for New Token Offerings, April 20. 2020
- Masur, Steve, What the FUCT: Can the USPTO Still Deny Your Vulgar or Offensive Mark? September, 23, 2019
- Masur, Steve, Is Ethereum a Security? April 18, 2019
- Masur, Steve, Wyoming’s New Frontier for Blockchain and Digital Assets, March 20, 2019
- Masur, Steve, Choosing Between NQSO and ISO Stock Options for your Business, October 22, 2019
- Masur, Steve, Why Malta? ICO’s and the Application of Extraterritorial SEC Regulations, April 27 2018
- Masur, Steve, U.S, Regulators & Your Cryptocurrency: State Money Transmission Laws. April 20, 2018
- Masur, Steve, The SEC, CFTC and Possible Future of Utility Tokens, March 7, 2018
- Masur, Steve, Cryptocurrency, the Howey Test, and the Munchee’s Guidance on How to Apply it, January 10, 2018
- Masur, Steve, I’ve Seen the Future and It’s Voice Activated, March 20, 2017
- Masur, Steve, SoundCloudability, June 7, 2012
- Masur, Steve, The Y of VR, May 15, 2011
- Steven Masur, Collective Rights Licensing For Internet Downloads and Streams: Would It Properly Compensate Rights Holders?, 15 J. Internet L. 3 (November 2011).
- BOOK: Steven Masur et al., Collective Licensing at the ISP Level (David Mazur dep. ed., 2010).
- Steven Masur, What’s the Point in New York’s LLC Publication Requirement? VOL. 13, NO. 1, NYSBA BUSINESS LAW JOURNAL (2009).
- Steven Masur and David Mazur, Veoh: Increased Protection for Service Providers, Or a Trapdoor?, 15 No. 5 INTELL. PROP. STRATEGIST 1 (2009).
- Ready, Handset, Go: The Rules of Mobile Marketing, BILLBOARD, July 19, 2008, at 8.
- Steven Masur and John Maher, Mobile Phone Text Message Spam: Building A Vibrant Market For Mobile Advertising While Keeping Customers Happy, 7 Va. Sports & Ent. L.J. 41 (2007).
- Playing to Win: Negotiating Tips for Mobile Game Development Agreements, 18 No. 2 NYSBA ENT., ARTS AND SPORTS L.J. 64 (2007).
- Confidentiality in a High–Tech World, GP SOLO, July/August 2007, at 42.
- A Good Deal More, MOBILE ENT., May 2007, at 37.
Associations and Activities
- Foundation of Art and Blockchain, Board Member
- Harvestworks, Board of Directors
- Crypto Oracle Collective, AI Committee
- National Arts Club, former Co-Chair, Art & Technology Committee
- Producers Guild of America, New Media Council former member
- New York’s Industrial and Technology Assistance Corporation (ITAC), Board of Directors
- Institute of Play, Board of Directors, former Board Chair
- International Association of Entertainment Lawyers (IAEL), Executive Board, Editor of IAEL Book: Collective Licensing at the ISP Level (2010)
- Transmission Institute, International Advisory Board
- New York State Bar Association (NYSBA), Business Law Section, Executive Committee; former Chair, TechVenture Law Committee
- New York State Bar Association (NYSBA), Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law Section
- org, Former Board Member
- International Game Developers Association (IGDA)
- NY Technology Meetup (NYTM), Community Committee, Law and Business Liaison
- National Association of Recording Merchandisers (NARM) Digital Think Tank
- Mobile Entertainment Forum (MEF), Americas, Former Board Member
- New York County Lawyer’s Association (NYCLA), Entertainment, Media Intellectual Property and Sports Law Section Co-Founder and Former Chair
- New York City Bar Association, Entertainment Law Committee