A partner in the Litigation Department, Lynn B. Bayard has a diverse practice, with a focus on copyright and trademark matters in the media and entertainment industries, representing songwriters and music publishers, television networks, sports leagues and motion picture studios.

Ms. Bayard has represented:

• National Music Publishers’ Association, the Songwriters Guild of America and the Nashville Songwriters Association International in a rate proceeding resulting in the setting of advantageous new rates and terms for the mechanical license under Section 115 of the Copyright Act, the first contested mechanical rate proceeding in almost three decades.
• ASCAP in multiple licensing negotiations and rate court litigations, including in the radio, television and cable industries.
• A class of songwriters and music publishers in a copyright infringement action against Bertelsmann AG resulting in a $130 million settlement—the largest copyright settlement at the time.
• Weight Watchers International, Inc. in a false advertising suit against Jenny Craig, Inc. and in a variety of trademark infringement and franchise matters.
• A major sports league in connection with a variety of scientific, medical and intellectual property matters.
• Bagdasarian Productions, LLC in a high-profile copyright action against a major motion picture studio regarding the film Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel.

In addition, she has extensive IP transactional experience including drafting and negotiating license agreements, and regularly represents on a pro bono basis non-profit organizations in connection with publishing and arts-related matters.

Ms. Bayard has authored or co-authored several articles on a range of intellectual property issues, including:

• “Capitol Records v. Thomas: The Debate Over the ‘Making Available’ Theory of Copyright Infringement,” in the January/February 2010 issue of Landslide, the publication of the ABA Section of Intellectual Property, which discusses the piracy plaguing the music industry and explores the latest decision to tackle the “making available” issue, Capitol Records, Inc. v. Thomas.
• “A Losing Case for the Fair Use Defense,” in the August 17, 2009 edition of The National Law Journal on the decision in Salinger v. Colting, in which the parody defense was put to the fair use test, discussing the criteria to be considered in determining whether a work has made fair use of the copyrighted original.
• “Making Available’ Cases Still Making Trouble” in the January 7, 2009 edition of IP Law360, which discusses the piracy that has plagued the music industry for the past decade as a result of Internet peer-to-peer file-sharing sites and explores how courts have grappled with the question of whether users’ “making available” of copyrighted files on those sites for reproduction by other users constitutes “distribution” under the Copyright Act.
• “Mary J. Blige: No More Retroactive Copyright Licensing Drama,” an article on Davis v. Blige, an important Second Circuit decision interpreting the rights of co-authors under the Copyright Act in which plaintiff Sharice Davis brought a copyright infringement action against defendant Mary J. Blige and others over two songs on Blige’s album “No More Drama,” which appeared in the Winter 2008 issue of Entertainment and Sports Lawyer.
• “A Well-Tailored Remedy,” which appeared in the December 2007 issue of IP Law & Business on a bill introduced by Senator Schumer to protect fashion designs under the Copyright Act. Fashion designers, unlike other creators of original works in the United States and unlike fashion designers abroad, are currently denied copyright protection in the United States.
• “9th Circuit Finds ‘Thumbnail’ Photos Display Fair Use,” which was published in the October 29, 2007 issue of The National Law Journal on a decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Perfect 10 Inc. v. Amazon.com Inc., addressed the closely followed question of whether the display of “thumbnail” versions of copyrighted photographs by Google’s image search engine constitutes copyright infringement or “fair use” under the Copyright Act.
• “Unsettled Territory,” which was published in the March 2006 issue of GC New York, explores issues relating to republishing collective works in new media.

She also wrote a chapter titled “Settling Copyright and Trademark Disputes” in the leading treatise on the law of settlement agreements and the settlement process, Settlement Agreements in Commercial Disputes: Negotiating, Drafting and Enforcement, published in 2008. Ms. Bayard has spoken on topics including copyright infringement litigation as well as the advancement of women attorneys.

Currently, Ms. Bayard is a member of the Trademarks and Unfair Competition Committee and previously served on the Civil Rights Committee and the Copyright and Literary Property Committee of the City Bar.