The Nathan Burkan Memorial Competition is sponsored annually by ASCAP in memory of ASCAP’s first General Counsel who died in 1936. The awards, designed to stimulate interest in the field of copyright law, have been a tradition at ASCAP since 1938. First place winners at the local level will also be considered for one of three National Prizes, ranging from $1,000 to $3,000. The recipients of these National Prizes will be selected by a panel of judges from the Copyright Society of the USA.

Sanborn is a recent graduate from Suffolk University Law School, where he received the Jurisprudence Award for Con Law, Corporations, and Professional Responsibility. Currently he is on the Intellectual Property Group at the Boston office of Holland & Knight. Mr. Sanborn is the son of Lynn and Doug Sanborn of Basking Ridge, New Jersey.

Established in 1914, ASCAP is the first and leading U.S. Performing Rights Organization (PRO) representing the world's largest repertory totaling over 8.5 million copyrighted musical works of every style and genre from more than 330,000 songwriter, composer and music publisher members. ASCAP has representation arrangements with similar foreign organizations such that the ASCAP repertory is represented in nearly every country around the world where copyright law exists. ASCAP protects the rights of its members and foreign affiliates by licensing the public performances of their copyrighted works and distributing royalties based upon surveyed performances. ASCAP is the only American PRO owned and governed by its writer and publisher members. www.ascap.com