Jeffrey Thennisch

Jeffrey P. Thennisch is an intellectual property attorney in Clarkston, Michigan, and the founder of Thennisch Law Group. Music publishing rights are a focus of his work, including efforts to recover ownership for creators and their families under U.S. copyright termination provisions and Canadian copyright reversion provisions. His clients include songwriters, artists and heirs.

At AmericanaFest in Nashville, Thennisch addressed that recovery work in a presentation titled “A Second Bite at the Copyright Apple: Copyright Termination Rights for Authors and Heirs.” He also participated in “Unsung, Unshaken, and Uncompensated: The Plight of African American Musicians,” a forum at the Congressional Black Caucus’s 42nd Annual Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C. His published work and speaking engagements concern copyright law, music publishing and intellectual property.

Music is not the full extent of his intellectual property background. Thennisch has worked on patent and trademark portfolios as well as copyrights, with experience in obtaining rights, licensing them, protecting them and litigating disputes. That experience covers both domestic and international portfolios. His music clients have included Grammy Award winners and members of the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Thennisch graduated from GMI Engineering & Management Institute in Flint, Michigan, the institution now known as Kettering University. He earned his law degree cum laude at Northern Illinois University College of Law in DeKalb, Illinois.