Sander Petit
Lawyer specialized in entertainment law
Sander Petit is the lawyer who made his first mixtapes long before he drafted his first contract. From clubs in Leiden and The Hague to Thailand, Burning Man and De Zwarte Cross. The dance floor came before the gown. Since 2012 he has been a lawyer, specializing in intellectual property and media and entertainment law. In 2017 his blog 'De Dance-advocaat' became a real business. He works for artists from the DJ Mag Top 100, booking agencies, record labels, publishers and producers. That dual role makes him unique: he knows the legal rules of the game and the world in which they apply. On stages and at conferences such as Amsterdam Dance Event and Eurosonic Noorderslag, he translates contract law into language that creators understand and can use immediately.
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Biography
First the music, then the law
As a child, Sander Petit made mixtapes, he started DJing in secondary school, and organized parties during his student years. As a DJ, that took him from Leiden clubs like InCasa and Gebr. De Nobel to De Karavaan and Whoosah in The Hague, via Boom Bar in Thailand to the desert sands of Burning Man, and from the dance floor at De Zwarte Cross to Familiar Forest. He never left that world — he began serving it from a legal perspective.
Graduating on DJs and copyright
In 2011, Sander completed his Master's degree in Business Law and Intellectual Property at Leiden University, with a thesis on music copyright and dance DJs. Since 2012, he has been registered with the Dutch Bar Association, where he is registered in the practice areas register as a specialist in intellectual property law. A registration that requires him to stay current in this field annually.
From Blog to Own Office
The Dance-advocaat started as a blog on Facebook, born from his passion for music and creative professions. In 2017 it became a real business under the Petit Legal banner, with innovative legal practice, transparent rates and clear agreements as its foundation. By then, he was working for artists from the DJ Mag Top 100, management and booking agencies, promoters, record labels, publishers and (ghost)producers.
Podium, lecture hall and trade show
Sander wrote the legal column in DJ Mag NL from 2012 to 2015 and regularly contributes to media outlets such as Quote, 3voor12 and Kollekt.fm. He sits on panels at Amsterdam Dance Event, Most Wanted: Music in Berlin and No Man's Land, and has been a guest lecturer at, among others, Conservatorium Amsterdam, Codarts Rotterdam, Herman Brood Academy, Breda University of Applied Sciences and Leiden University.
Expertise
Intellectual Property in the Creative Industry
The core of Sanders' practice: who has what rights to a track, a name, an image or a format, and how to secure those rights before there's anything to divide. He helps creators understand what they own, what they give away, and where the long-term value of their work comes from. Especially in collaborations, it becomes clear afterward how costly ambiguity can be.
Contracts and Negotiation
Artist agreements, publishing and producer deals, label, management and booking contracts, featuring arrangements and endorsements. Sander negotiates and litigates these matters, and therefore knows exactly which provisions lead to conflict in practice. He translates that knowledge into recognizable examples of what goes wrong when agreements are missing or signed too hastily.
Media, entertainment and online
Social media, blogging, vlogging, photography, portrait rights and artwork: in the modern music industry, a large part of exploitation takes place online, and that's where the legal frameworks are least familiar to creators. Sander covers what you can do with other people's images and music, and what others can do with yours.
The music industry as a playing field
Apart from being a lawyer, Sander is an entrepreneur in the same industry as his clients. He understands the roles of artist, management, booking agency, label, and publisher, and knows where their interests align and where they clash. This makes his advice business-focused rather than purely legal: not just what is permitted, but what is wise.
Themes
Intellectual Property
Who owns what, how do masters and publishing work, and what does that mean for your income? The foundation every music career rests on, explained without legal jargon.
Contracts in the Music Industry
Artist agreements, record label contracts, publishing deals, management and booking agreements. What to watch out for, what you should never sign and which clauses will cause problems later.
Brands, trade names and merchandise
Your Artist Name as a Brand. How to establish, protect and exploit it through merchandise and endorsement, and what happens if you don't get it sorted in time.
Entrepreneurship for Artists
The business side of a creative career: collaborations, agreements in writing, and how to maximize your talent without giving away your rights.
Online Rights, Portrait Rights and Social Media
Photography, artwork, vlogs, samples and the use of your image. Where the boundaries lie in an industry that operates largely online.
The music industry from within
How the playing field works: which parties are involved, where interests clash and how international developments impact the Dutch scene.
Why Sander
He knows both worlds
DJ, event organizer and lawyer. Sander doesn't talk about the dance industry from the sidelines, but from within the club. You notice that in his examples and in the ease with which a room full of industry professionals believes him.
Registered specialist
In the register of legal specializations of the Dutch Bar Association, he is registered as a specialist in intellectual property law, with an annual training obligation. The content is therefore not opinion but professional expertise.
Experience with the top
He worked for artists in the DJ Mag Top 100, labels, publishers and booking agencies. This means he knows not only the theory but also what's actually on the table in real negotiations.
Accustomed to a hall
Panels at Amsterdam Dance Event, Most Wanted: Music and No Man's Land, plus years of experience as a guest lecturer at conservatories and colleges. He knows how to convey legal matters to audiences without formal training in the field.
Internationally connected
Through the Association For Electronic Music and visits to the Amsterdam Dance Event and the International Music Summit in Ibiza, he keeps his finger on the pulse of what is happening internationally and what is relevant in an industry that pays little attention to national borders.
Writes the way he speaks
As a columnist for DJ Mag NL and blogger for Dancefair and Gigstarter, he has spent years making music rights accessible. Not vague caveats, but concrete language.
Talks
Music Rights 101
45 to 60 minutesBehind every note a web of rights
Every day, music plays in clubs, at festivals, in commercials and on social media, and behind every note lies a rights structure that most people in the industry have never fully understood. Sander takes the audience through copyright, neighboring rights and the role of Buma, Stemra, Sena and Norma. Using recognizable examples from the music industry, not legal articles.
The questions that really matter
Who owns a track? What do you arrange in a contract? And where does it usually go wrong? Sander discusses the difference between copyright and neighbouring rights and the most common mistakes with samples, features and co-writes.
Negotiate More Sharply Tomorrow
Participants leave with concrete tools they can use immediately. For artist managers, labels, booking agencies, festival organizers, music entrepreneurs and emerging artists who want to take control of the rights behind their work. Including Q&A, in Dutch or English.
Music and AI
45 to 60 minutesWho is the creator when an algorithm writes the hit?
AI-generated tracks, cloned voices, models trained on catalogues without permission. The music industry is leading the way through a legal minefield that's evolving at breakneck speed. Sander explains where the law stands today and where it's heading.
What that means in concrete terms
How copyright and neighboring rights relate to AI training and AI output. The current state of affairs regarding voice cloning, deepfakes, and artists' personality rights. Who holds which rights to an AI-generated track, who is liable, and what you need to contractually arrange before AI plays a role in production, distribution, or marketing.
Space for robust discussion
With a realistic perspective on where regulation is heading, from the EU AI Act to copyright. This is a topic where everyone has an opinion, so the session leaves room for discussion. Excellent for conferences, panels and closed sessions at labels or platforms.
Intellectual Property
60 to 120 minutesYour most important asset is nowhere on the balance sheet
For entrepreneurs, agencies, startups and scale-ups, media companies and event organizations. Sander shows how trademark law, copyright and design rights come together in practice, and how you can use them to protect and monetize value.
The Basics, and How to Get Ahead of Them
When which right applies, how to proactively establish IE instead of reacting during a dispute, how to license and collaborate without giving away your own rights, and what to do in case of infringement. Plus the role IE plays in acquisitions, investments and growth.
From daily practice
With sharp examples from his work in the creative and entertainment sector: what works well, what often goes wrong and what entrepreneurs can already arrange today. The session can be split into two 60-minute blocks. One block on copyright and related rights followed by a block on trademarks and trade names.
Reviews
“Sander has thorough knowledge of the subject matter and is able to explain everything in understandable language. He has assisted me excellently with a number of legal questions.”
“Sander is an extremely reliable, pragmatic and expert lawyer. He can act quickly when necessary and has an incredibly good understanding of the creative and music industry.”
