Copyright
News and entertainment, music and publishing, the internet and software development—promoting and protecting unique content is critical to these and other businesses and industries. Our full-service Copyright team partners with clients to protect their legal and economic positions, advising on any aspect of copyright law and handling any legal conflicts that may arise worldwide. Whether providing counseling, executing transactions or litigating business-critical cases, we bring in-depth industry knowledge and broad experience handling complex disputes to promote and protect your copyrighted material, and to protect your free speech rights when using copyrighted content fairly. As a result of our longtime persistence and long-term persuasion in this legal area, we have played a key role in shaping copyright law as it has adapted to current and emerging technologies.
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Distinguished Roster: Our copyright clients include major linear networks and streaming services, television and film production companies, motion picture studios, publishers, authors and creators, internet platforms, software developers and professional sports leagues and teams.
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Highly Ranked: Our Copyright practice and individual attorneys are consistently recognized by leading national and international legal publications.
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Creative and Influential: Unlike firms that sit on one side or the other, we stand at the intersection between intellectual property and free speech and draw the lines to achieve our clients' goals.
—Chambers USA Nationwide
Trademark, Copyright & Trade Secrets
Experience Highlights
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One of the world's leading entertainment companies in the successful defense of a copyright claim based on allegations of copying in popular comic book movie franchises and related properties.
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LeanIn.org, a nonprofit founded by Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg focused on providing services to women to empower them to achieve their goals, in copyright and right of publicity issues. We also handle the strategic selection of names and marks, prosecution of key trademarks and resolving challenging trademark and domain name issues.
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Lee Mendelson Film Productions, Emmy-winning producer of documentaries and some of the most beloved animated shows of all time, including Peanuts and Garfield, in negotiating content license agreements, including the licensing of the classic Peanuts TV holiday specials to Apple for viewing on Apple TV+.
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The Heirs of Marvin Gaye in successful post-verdict and appeal proceedings to uphold an earlier verdict that the hit song "Blurred Lines" by Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke infringed the copyright in Gaye's former #1 song "Got To Give It Up," which saw a jury award $7.4 million to the Gayes. The trial court denied motions to set aside the verdict and for a new trial, and the Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment in substantial part and denied appellant's request to re-hear the case.
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ASCAP, America's oldest performing rights organization, in litigation to enforce the music copyrights of its composer, songwriter, and publisher members, in hundreds of cases over more than 25 years, including securing judgment for willful copyright infringement at a federal jury trial against owners of multiple radio stations and summary judgment against restaurant/nightclub owner, both affirmed on appeal.
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Adobe in a successful eve-of-trial resolution of a copyright case in which Dolby Laboratories claimed multiple billions of dollars in damages. We also represent Adobe in plaintiff-side copyright matters.
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Major news media company in multiple litigation and pre-litigation matters involving copyright, trademark, defamation, reporters' privilege, and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
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Prince in helping seal a "landmark deal" that put an end to the rock icon's 20-year battle with Warner Records by securing the musician's ownership of his master recordings, including best-selling albums such as Dirty Mind, Controversy, 1999, and Purple Rain, in exchange for allowing Warner Records certain licensing rights.
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A consortium of major sports leagues (MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL, WNBA and NCAA) in litigation, negotiations and multiple federal agency proceedings involving disputes over billions of dollars in copyright royalties paid to retransmit broadcast TV programming pursuant to statutory licenses under the Copyright Act. In a recent litigated proceeding, obtained an approximately $285 million award of royalties—the largest award issued—following a six-week trial. The DC Circuit upheld the award on appeal.
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World famous fashion and jewelry design houses in obtaining injunctive relief and significant monetary awards against the copying of our clients' designs, as well as taking innovative approaches to achieving protection of such designs in a rapidly changing area of copyright law.
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