Byron Jupiter

Thank You, Ella Project: Support Their Tuesday Seminars at the New Orleans Jazz Museum

Byron Jupiter — October 12, 2026

From the room at an Ella Project session: the checklist every working musician should be able to answer.

NEW ORLEANS — Thank you to the whole team at The Ella Project. For more than twenty years they have done the work most artists can’t afford to pay for: pro bono legal help, arts business training, and advocacy for the people who make this city’s culture. Co-founded in 2004 by attorney Ashlye Keaton and Gene Meneray, and powered every week by Tulane Law School students, the Ella Project has served more than 2,000 clients across Louisiana.

I sat in that room and read the slide. Every line on it is a door to getting paid that too many of us walk past for years. That is why we are putting their calendar in front of you.

What the Ella Project can help you do

Determine which accounts you need
Organize your music catalogue
Advise on clearances and the paperwork that goes with them
Register your accounts as a songwriter, a publisher, a performer and a recording owner
Register your copyrights

Support their calendar: Tuesday seminars at the New Orleans Jazz Museum

The Ella Project seminar series covers licensing, intellectual property rights and the business side of the music industry. Every session runs 5:30–7:30 PM at the New Orleans Jazz Museum, 400 Esplanade Ave.

Tuesday, October 13, 2026
Tuesday, October 20, 2026
Tuesday, October 27, 2026
Tuesday, November 3, 2026 (Election Day — confirm with the museum before you go)
Tuesday, November 10, 2026
Tuesday, November 17, 2026

Each date on the museum’s page has Google Calendar and ICS buttons. Add the series, bring your catalogue questions, and bring somebody who needs to hear it. Full listing: New Orleans Jazz Museum events calendar.

Why this matters to us

Forty years in the room taught me the music is only half the work. The other half is the record: who wrote it, who owns the master, who gets paid when it plays. The Ella Project teaches that half for free, to anybody willing to show up. That is doing well by doing good, and we stand with it.

Questions & Answers

What is The Ella Project?

A New Orleans nonprofit, launched in 2004, that provides pro bono legal assistance, arts business services and advocacy to artists, musicians and grassroots nonprofits in Louisiana. Legal services are led by co-founder Ashlye Keaton with Tulane Law School students.

When and where are the Ella Project seminars?

Tuesdays from 5:30 to 7:30 PM at the New Orleans Jazz Museum, 400 Esplanade Ave., on October 13, 20 and 27 and November 3, 10 and 17, 2026, per the museum’s events calendar.

What do the seminars cover?

Practical guidance on licensing, intellectual property rights and other music-industry business topics, so local musicians can protect both their creative work and their business interests.

Where do I register as a songwriter, publisher, performer or recording owner?

Songwriters and publishers affiliate with a performing rights organization such as ASCAP or BMI, and publishers register with The MLC for U.S. streaming mechanicals. Featured performers and recording owners register with SoundExchange for digital radio royalties. The Ella Project can help you decide which accounts you need.

How do I register a copyright?

Through the U.S. Copyright Office. A song (the composition) and a recording (the master) are separate works, and the Ella Project can advise on what to file.

Sources

— Byron Jupiter

This post thanks and promotes The Ella Project’s public calendar; it claims no partnership, endorsement or affiliation with The Ella Project or the New Orleans Jazz Museum. Event details come from the museum’s events page as of October 12, 2026 — check each listing before you go.