Copyright

Copyrights – Fostering Creativity

It is increasingly challenging to protect copyrights in the age of technology. Our intellectual property (IP) attorneys are well-versed in all aspects of copyright law, including emerging issues that may impact your interests. 

Our copyright practice spans all areas of the performing and visual arts, including works related to musical compositions, computer software, media arts, written works, fine art, photography, and others. We provide a wide-array of services that ensure your copyrights are protected. Our core services include:

• Securing Copyright Protection: We counsel clients on securing copyright protection in the United States and abroad. Once copyrights are secured, we develop strategies to maximize the value of our clients’ copyrights and deter unlawful use. 
• Copyright Litigation: When disputes can’t be avoided, our litigation team is prepared to protect and defend clients’ creative works in the courtroom. We are equipped to handle copyright infringement lawsuits, royalty disputes, breaches of licensing agreements, copyright trolling, among other matters.
• Licensing and Royalty Agreements: We facilitate the exploitation of our clients’ copyrights through licensing and royalty agreements to ensure that our clients realize the full benefits of their creative endeavors. We also advise clients regarding business transactions involving the transfer of copyrights and copyrighted content.
• Copyright Consulting: We devise comprehensive solutions to our clients’ greatest copyright challenges. Our consulting services include portfolio management, Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) compliance, copyright ownership investigation, fair use analysis, and rights of publicity, among other issues.  We also assist many of our clients with re-claiming their U.S. copyrights, which rights were granted to third parties under agreements made at least 35 years ago, pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law.  
• Entertainment and Music: We dedicate a significant portion of our copyright practice to helping clients in the entertainment and music industry protect and promote their creative works. Our clients include companies in the music, film, television, and media industries, as well as musicians, actors, and authors. 

Our Copyright Attorneys in Action

Our copyright team works tirelessly to resolve copyright matters in the best interests of our clients, which includes successfully defended clients in several jurisdictions against infamous copyright trolls.  Additional copyright matters include:

• (United States District Court, Southern District of New York) Successfully defended clients sued by giant entertainment conglomerate and achieved favorable settlement from Plaintiffs for copyright infringement.
• (United States District Court, Eastern District of New York) Successfully obtained dismissal for clients – studio, producer and engineer – in landmark music sampling litigation.

Copyright Infingement

We use a collaborative approach to IP services in both the transactional sector and in the litigation realm. The client-centered strategic and collaborative approach identifies client aims, provides a budget, and defines success metrics. Based on this blueprint, we propose and pursue IP remedies and protections, affording clients optimal legal protections in the present and in the future.

Works, such as books, articles, songs, paintings and photographs, are protected by copyright the moment they are created. Problems arise when a client’s work is reproduced without permission and without compensation.

In investigating copyright infringement cases, the firm’s IP attorneys review:

• Access — Did the infringer have access to the work in order to copy it?
• Copyright — Who possesses the legal right to the work in question and is a copyright registered?
• Perpetrator — Who is the actual infringer of the copyright?
• Damages — What are the quantifiable costs of the infringement?

Licensing Copyrights

In addition to helping clients register their copyrights and enforce their interest against infringement, the firm’s IP attorneys also advise clients on monetizing their copyrights through licenses and other agreements.

Trademarks

Trademarks and service marks can be words, names, symbols or other subject matter used to identify and distinguish a company’s products or services from those of competitors and other businesses. Trademarks and service marks are essential to the brands and audiences that our clients build. The firm’s clients rely on the use of trademarks to ensure that similar words, symbols, and names are not used by competing companies to dilute the value of their enterprises and efforts. Our attorneys help to secure and enforce national and international trademarks and service marks on behalf of clients.

Scarinci Hollenbeck’s Trademark Law Practice