Don Engel

Donald Engel (December 11, 1929 – January 15, 2014), known as Don Engel, was an American attorney who represented popular music stars of the 1980s and 1990s, particularly those who wanted to break their contracts with recording studios. He also represented corporations and people in the publishing industry.

Career

Engel was an attorney in New York City, specializing in publishing law, but he moved to Los Angeles in the mid-1970s. Among the popular stars who sought him out to help in revising or canceling their recording contracts were Don Henley, Donna Summer and the band Boston. Entertainment attorney Chris Castle said that "In many important ways, what we have come to call the artists rights movement in the U.S. started with Don Engel's representation of artists against record companies who overreached."

Engel argued successfully in court that California law stated that some contracts could not be extended past seven years. In 1944, that argument allowed actress Olivia de Havilland to end her contract with the Warner Brothers studio.

In publishing, he represented Simon & Schuster, Grosset & Dunlap and Golden Books. Corporate clients included Harcourt Brace and SeaWorld, Interscope, Motown, MCA, Walt Disney Company, Lorimar and Paramount.