First Amendment Defense

• Won a motion under California’s anti-SLAPP Statute to secure the early dismissal of a defamation action arising from a national TV news report broadcast on two of America’s leading news programs; subsequently, we also won an award of over $170,000 in legal expenses that the clients incurred in defending against the defamation lawsuit.


• In a news-gathering and publication case related to the death of actor Marlon Brando, we secured a reversal in the California Court of Appeal of a lower court’s denial of the defendants’ anti-SLAPP motion, and confirmed that the widespread public interest requirement in the anti-SLAPP statute is satisfied where there is public interest in the subject matter of First Amendment–related activity, regardless of whether there is an independent public interest with the individuals involved.


• Representing the parent corporation and its broadcast and cable network subsidiaries, we successfully used the anti-SLAPP statute to obtain the dismissal of the plaintiff’s defamation and other claims arising from the broadcast of a news magazine story about reality programming on one of the cable networks.


• Protected a Los Angeles television station against defamation and invasion of privacy claims, securing summary judgment against a sitting Superior Court judge who disputed the accuracy of a news report critical of his judicial performance; the California Court of Appeal affirmed that summary judgment on appeal, in a frequently cited decision.


• Represented Oracle in multiple cases regarding defamatory statements anonymously posted online about Oracle employees.  Our attorneys tracked down the poster and were able to cease defamatory comments.


• Protecting actress/comedian Roseanne Barr against invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress claims, we secured a motion to dismiss, having successfully argued that our client was acting well within her First Amendment rights to express her views.  We argued and won the motion for summary judgment on July 28, 2015.


• Represented Michael Kors against NahaDaily.com, an entertainment blog that wrote defamatory statements about Kors.  We demanded that the statements be taken down, and NahaDaily.com complied.


• Represented T Group Productions and TruTV in a lawsuit alleging defamation, harassment and breach of contract in connection with the reality television show “Storage Hunters.”  We moved the court to dismiss the entire lawsuit pursuant to Section 425.16 of the California Code of Civil Procedure—the California anti-SLAPP statute.  We won the anti-SLAPP motion and the case settled confidentially.  We also represented T Group in a wrongful termination lawsuit, which settled confidentially.

Copyright and Trademark

• Represented music producer in a copyright infringement lawsuit in which the plaintiff alleged copyright infringement in connection with a famous Michael Jackson recording.  The Federal Court in Los Angeles dismissed the lawsuit with no payment by the defendant. 


• Represented an American actor in a copyright infringement claim in which he claimed a fashion photographer used a photograph in an unauthorized manner, without permission.


• Represented a Los Angeles sightseeing tour bus company in connection with a trademark dispute regarding what can be on the buses. We negotiated a settlement.


• Defended a major studio, a highly honored producer and several other defendants against a copyright lawsuit in New York Federal Court, obtaining summary judgment against claims that a recent hit movie infringed the copyright of a short story upon which a 1954 classic film was based.


• Defended more than 30 named defendants, including a major motion picture studio and three well-known actresses, securing the dismissal of numerous copyright and RICO claims based on the release and distribution of a successful romantic comedy.  Summary judgment and award of attorneys’ fees were affirmed by the Ninth Circuit.


• Protected the release of a premium cable documentary, defeating both an application for temporary restraining order and a motion for preliminary injunction based on claims of copyright infringement, paving the way for the film’s timely release and forcing the dismissal of the action.


• Defeated a motion for preliminary injunction that was sought, based on alleged infringement of the plaintiff’s trademark, to prevent the distribution of a popular reality television program on a prominent cable network.


• Secured the dismissal, with prejudice, of a copyright infringement claim against a leading television cooking show.  We persuaded the district court to issue groundbreaking rulings that (1) copyright infringement claims may be dismissed at the pleading stage based on lack of substantial similarity; (2) no amount of access can establish actionable copying if the works are not substantially similar; and (3) judicial notice is appropriate to establish that allegedly copied elements are generic and therefore not copyright-protected.


• Defended a major motion picture studio in a copyright infringement action growing out of a hit 1980s motion picture.  We secured the dismissal, with prejudice, of all claims, and successfully defended that dismissal on appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.


• Defended the broadcast network and the merchandise distributor of a pioneering reality television show against a trademark lawsuit filed in Hawaii, obtaining summary judgment against “reverse confusion” claims brought by a Hawaiian company that marketed similar products under a similar trademark; that trial court victory was affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.


• Secured the early dismissal, with prejudice, of copyright and accounting claims against the producers, distributor and director of one of the most financially successful films of 2002.


• Defended the world-famous trademark of a Los Angeles radio station, securing a TRO and preliminary injunction to prevent a Palm Springs radio station from using a confusingly similar name; the trademark injunction was unanimously affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Idea Submission Claims

• Secured full dismissal in a case for a large studio that was sued based on a claim that the television show SMASH was a rip-off of the plaintiff’s ideas.


• Represented producers of one of the most popular television shows in history in connection with an idea submission claim based on a script that had been written decades earlier.


• Defended major motion picture studio in four idea submissions claims over the same hit film about four men going through a mid-life crisis.


• Defended a prominent actor, television studio and other defendants in a copyright infringement action concerning a television series in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, obtaining judgment dismissing the action at the pleading stage; affirmed by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.  Also obtained dismissal of the case when the plaintiff later filed similar claims in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.


• Defended multiple studios and individual defendants in several idea submission and copyright claims regarding one of the top-grossing films of 2007.


• The California Court of Appeal upheld the summary judgment that our lawyers obtained against a plaintiff who claimed that a studio’s 2005 hit movie was based on an idea that the plaintiff had “pitched” to a studio executive at an industry event.  Both the appellate and trial courts agreed that any similarities between the plaintiff’s idea and the film were not substantial enough to support an idea submission claim.


• Secured the early dismissal, with prejudice, on nine of the plaintiffs’ ten-idea submission-based claims related to a broadcast miniseries.


• Defended an Oscar-nominated director, production studios and others involved in creating a top-grossing motion picture, obtaining the dismissal of all state law claims arising from an idea submission claim and ultimately secured the dismissal with prejudice of the only remaining claim for copyright infringement.


• Represented the producer of a motion picture based on a graphic novel, securing summary adjudication in the client’s favor against numerous claims based on theft-of-idea theories, including breach of contract, breach of confidential relationship, breach of fiduciary duty, and fraud.


• After securing federal court orders dismissing all of a plaintiff’s federal copyright claims and most of her state law claims based on the creation of a successful cable television series, we secured a favorable settlement on the eve of a further motion to dismiss plaintiff’s surviving “idea submission” claims.

Production, Distribution and Financing

• On behalf of CBS Broadcasting we sued and successfully negotiated a settlement and payment plan against Blue Tax, which purchased $200,000 in advertising and refused to pay.  We currently represent CBS in another case, in which they are suing Three Lions Entertainment for purchasing $5 million worth of advertising on a television show and failing to pay. 


• Represented WME│IMG regarding threatened claims for breach of fiduciary duty in connection with the Ben Affleck movie The Accountant. The plaintiff claimed that they originated the movie idea.  The case settled in April 2016.


• Represented Manny Film LLC in connection with a documentary they produced about professional boxer Manny Pacquiao.  As part of Pacquiao and Manny Film’s agreement, Pacquiao was to refrain from producing other documentaries.  When Manny Films discovered that Pacquiao was considering producing another documentary, we stepped in and were able to prevent Pacquiao from creating other films.


• Defended two television studios against a claim by two talent agencies for an increased percentage of the revenue generated by the off-network distribution (syndication) of a hit television series.  Following a multi-week private trial before a retired Justice of the California Supreme Court, our clients won a confidential decision and the dispute thereafter was settled favorably.


• Defended one of the leading children’s television programming producers in the world in a complex array of lawsuits—in federal court, state court, and before the American Arbitration Association—all arising out of the worldwide distribution and merchandising of derivative works (including an animated TV series) based on a doll made famous in the early 1990s.  An arbitration trial spanning four months in 2009 concluded with an interim arbitration award in our client’s favor, prompting a confidential settlement and the dismissal of all pending proceedings.


• Successfully defended a major motion picture studio in connection with a profits participation dispute with a former showrunner of a hit television series.


• Successfully defended a major motion picture studio in connection with a financing dispute regarding a slate of several films.


• Represented a film producer in two lawsuits against fellow producers over the parties’ agreements regarding the development and production of several motion picture projects.  The disputes were litigated both in a JAMS arbitration and in a federal court lawsuit, and on the eve of the arbitration trial, all the disputes were settled confidentially to the parties’ mutual satisfaction.


• On behalf of an independent motion picture studio, we secured partial summary judgment and subsequently a defense verdict against claims of fraud, breach of contract and breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing with respect to the financing, production and distribution of two motion pictures.


• Secured a $1.6 million verdict on behalf of an independent motion picture studio in an arbitration against a co-producer relating to the production and distribution of a motion picture.  On counterclaims relating to accounting and profit participation, we won a complete defense verdict for our clients.