I'm Cody Mullikin. I make music and art, and I'm also a licensed attorney. When a contract lands on your table, whether you make music, film, design, images, or words, I read every word and I negotiate it for you. My fee is a percentage of the deal, agreed in writing before we start. No retainers. No hourly bills.
Book a free strategy call Read the free guideLabel offer, publishing or sync deal, brand partnership, licensing agreement, gallery contract, book or film deal. Don't sign what you can't read. I negotiate it for a percentage of the deal, agreed in writing before we start. No retainers. No hourly bills.
Legal services provided by Mullikin Legal, PLLC (Cody Mullikin, licensed in Idaho). A written fee agreement setting the exact fee is required before any engagement begins. Fees vary by matter and some matters may not qualify for percentage-based fees. Other parties to a deal, such as managers or collaborators, may hold their own shares of deal proceeds.
The free guide: five contract clauses that quietly take your masters, your money, or your name, and the exact plain English fix for each. Written for musicians first, but the same traps show up in every creative field.
Because every deal has two sides, and the other one always shows up with a lawyer.
I'm an artist who became an attorney — not the other way around. I make music and art, and I've spent my legal career in negotiation rooms: launches, acquisitions, contracts, the places where the fine print actually gets decided. What I kept seeing was simple and unfair — businesses always had someone at the table reading every word. Artists almost never did.
Creative industries run on that imbalance. Masters signed away in paragraph five. Royalties that never arrive because a split was never written down. Rights to your art, your designs, your footage, your words, handed over in “standard contracts” that are only standard for the side that drafted them.
So I built Artist Side: one lawyer who sits on the artist's side of the table. Real negotiation for a percentage of the deal — not a retainer — and free plain-English resources for everything before the deal. No billable hours. No legalese. No office you're afraid to call.
I'm Cody Mullikin — I make music and art, I'm a licensed attorney in Idaho, and I sit on your side of the table.
For musicians: label, distribution, publishing, sync, producer, and management deals. For the rest of the creative world: brand partnerships, licensing, commissions, gallery agreements, book deals, film and content contracts. If it touches your creative work and your money, bring it.
My fee is a percentage of the deal, set in a written fee agreement before we start. The exact percentage depends on the size and complexity of the matter. There is no retainer and no hourly billing, and in most percentage matters, if the deal doesn't close, you don't owe a fee. One honest note: others on your team, like managers or collaborators, may have their own shares of a deal. I'll help you see the whole picture before you sign anything.
Sometimes. Book a call — existing contracts can have exit ramps, renegotiation windows, or unenforceable terms. The sooner you ask, the more options you have.