As digital technology and the online environment transform the distribution and use of intellectual property, our Copyright & Trademark group is on the front lines in protecting and enforcing our clients’ most important creative assets. Our trial-tested team represents a wide range of clients, from entrepreneurs to major corporations, from playwrights to media giants, and from individual songwriters to the country’s largest performing rights organizations.
Lynn Bayard, Darren Johnson and Avra van der Zee Publish Article in Entertainment and Sports Lawyer
January 1, 2008 Full PDF
Litigation partner Lynn Bayard and associates Darren Johnson and Avra van der Zee published an article titled "Mary J. Blige: No More Copyright Licensing Drama" in the Winter 2008 edition of Entertainment and Sports Lawyer. The article examines the Second Circuit's recent ruling in Davis v. Blige, an important decision interpreting the rights of co-owners under the Copyright Act. Addressing an issue of first impression in the courts of appeal, the Second Circuit ruled that an action for infringement by one co-owner of a copyrighted work cannot be defeated by a retroactive transfer of copyright ownership from another co-owner to the alleged infringer. The article discusses the implications of the decision on existing retroactive copyright licenses, and the practical considerations for copyright owners going forward.