Lita T. Rosario

Lita T. Rosario, President and CEO of WYZ GIRL Entertainment Consulting, LLC

Lita Rosario is currently the President/CEO of WYZ GIRL Entertainment Consulting,LLC, an entertainment law firm located in Washington, D.C., specializing in the music, television and film.

Rosario got her start in the entertainment business as co-owner, founder and general manager of University Music Group, which was responsible for the success of multi-platinum recording artists Dru Hill, Sisqo and Mya.

Rosario has negotiated agreements with all of the four major record distribution/publishing companies including Warner Music Group, Sony/RCA; Universal Music Group; EMI/Capital Records as well as UPN, TV One, BET, MTV, and Universal Pictures. Rosario has also negotiated merchandizing and endorsement deals with Adidas International, NA and Doritos. Rosario’s client roster includes, among others, Grammy award winning and platinum selling artist Missy Elliott, Tank, Sisqo, Dru Hill, Peaches & Herb, Crystal Waters, Atlantic recording artist Carmen, Universal Republic recording artist Grind Mode; Grammy award winning and platinum selling producer Chucky Thompson, Kellie Williams former “Family Matters” cast member, Charlotte Burley, author, producer and host of BET J’s “THE TURN ON,” Davy D producer of RUN DMC and Kurtis Blow, Ronald “Peanut” Frost producer of Jill Scott, Miri Bin-Ari, Dave Evans producer and music director for Keith Sweat and Dru Holl, Nefretiti Makenta producer and director of a PBS documentary entitled “WORD IS BOND.”

WYZ Girl also provides entertainment and intellectual property advice to various entities including Washington, D.C. based Haven Media Group, LLC, a new venture funded by Syncom Funds designed to market “Legacy Artists” and The Black Leadership Forum, Inc. an umbrella entity for Black Civil Rights organizations that is launching an internet television network for its member organizations, and eVIPList a web based marketing and promotions company.

Rosario’s practice involves administration of copyrights, including negotiation of sample clearances, mechanical, synchronization and performance licenses for music in major motion pictures, including Soul Food, Romeo Music Die, The Fast and The Furious, Road Trip, My First Mister, Buying the Cow, and Brothers, as well as synchronization licenses for commercial advertisements for Mitsubishi, Doritos, Jeep, Cingular, MAC Make-Up and Miller Brewing Company.

Rosario has also actively pursued artist’s rights with respect to royalty collection and has supervised litigation/disputes for Peaches & Herb against Sony Music Corporation, The Moments against Rhino Records, and a multi-jurisdictional dispute over the ownership of the musical composition “Who Let The Dogs Out.” Rosario, an adjunct professor at the University of the District of Columbia’s Department of Mass Media Visual and Performing Arts since 1994, teaches “The Business of Music,” a course focusing on legal, accounting and other business aspects of the music, TV and film industries.

Rosario began her legal career with the Boston law firm Gaston & Snow and shortly moved on to the Wall Street firm of Shearman & Sterling. At Shearman she represented clients including The Taiwan Fund, Inc., Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc., CS First Boston, Pennzoil Company, and Wasserstein & Perrella and acted as a board member and general counsel for Banana Kelly Community Improvement Association, Inc., a Bronx-based low income housing development corporation. Rosario is a member of the District of Columbia, New York, and Massachusetts Bars, and Federal Court bars in The Southern District of New York and the District Court for the District of Columbia. She attended The Howard University School of Law, in Washington, D.C. where she earned a Juris Doctorate Degree in 1986, graduating in the top 10% of her class, and served on the Howard Law Journal. Rosario attended The Howard University School of Communications were she graduated Cum Laude in 1983 and served as the President of the School of Communications Student Council, Member of the Hilltop Policy Board, and HUSA Policy Board. She also achieved honors as Who's Who Among American University and College Students; received Trustee Academic and Debate Scholarships; and served as Co-Captain of the Debate Team.