Entertainment

Negotiated concessions in collective bargaining for BMG Entertainment in bankruptcy.

Served as lead negotiator and conducted collective bargaining for the Wildlife Conservation Society regarding the Bronx Zoo and other zoos in New York.

Collaborated with the National Music Publishers’ Association on anti-piracy efforts aimed at removing copyrighted lyrics from unlicensed websites and negotiating licenses for these lyrics’ use. These efforts created a new stream of royalty income which has generated hundreds of millions of dollars in additional revenue for music publishers and their songwriters over the past 20 years.

Routinely negotiates licenses for the use of clients’ valuable IP assets in film, television, advertising, and special projects across mediums including cable television, satellite transmissions, digital services, pay-per-view, and streaming.

Provided counsel on copyright terminations and copyright law in general. On behalf of disparate clients—The Rolling Stones, Joe Simon (creator of Captain America), Jessye Norman (international opera star), etc.—won several critical copyright cases that benefit creators in general and have helped bring clarity to the concept of Work For Hire.

Regularly collaborate with clients to find workarounds for transactions that face restrictions on certain transfers set forth in the Copyright Law. We have devised loan structures that permit transfer of assets in sales and purchases alike.

Facilitated purchases of the rights of Mick Fleetwood and John McVie of Fleetwood Mac, Paul Simon, John Legend, Harry Nilsson, and a share of the North American rights to a handful of early Beatles’ hits like “She Loves You,” “I Wanna Hold Your Hand,” and “From Me To You.”

Represented many of the leading writers of the Great American Songbook, such as Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg (The Wizard of Oz), Leroy Anderson (“Sleigh Ride”), and Mitchell Parish (“Stardust”).

Played an instrumental role in persuading the US Copyright Office to enact policy changes to ensure that the Mechanical Licensing Collective paid post-termination royalties to songwriters, resulting in many millions being paid out to songwriters, including Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones.

Facilitated the buying and selling of $1.2 billion in musical assets, including the purchase of numerous music publishing companies and legendary music catalogs—e.g., Cherry Lane Music (Peter, Paul and Mary; John Denver.) The purchaser was an Australian bank which could not own the assets. We structured the deal so that the assets would be owned by a U.S. LLC.

Facilitated the sale of iconic works like the original Twist, The Pointer Sisters’ catalog, numerous famous Motown songs, and legendary hip-hop compositions. Many of these transactions have been cross-border.

Successfully negotiated and closed a substantial eight-figure loan with a leading English bank represented in the U.S. and abroad, to support further acquisitions by the client. Ultimately, the deal was valued at $125 million.

Prepared an in-depth survey of all state child labor laws affecting a large entertainment company with locations throughout the United States. Also prepared a survey of all relevant state overtime pay laws.

Represented a major entertainment company by acting as chief spokesperson in labor negotiations throughout the nation. Over a 17-year period, were successful in reducing the total number of collective bargaining agreements from over 60 to 0.

Represented a large entertainment company by acting as chief spokesperson in labor negotiations. Was able, in every negotiation, to reduce the overall costs of labor covered by the relevant collective bargaining agreements.

Represented an internationally-known singer and songwriter in a lawsuit arising from a concert in Europe and obtained a dismissal of the claims against him in a New York state court.

Won Special Motion to Strike lawsuit alleging Unfair Business Practices and age discrimination against radio network and radio talk show host based on First Amendment rights of network and host; recovered award of attorneys’ fees; dismissal upheld on appeal in published opinion including award of attorneys’ fees.

Represented the owners of the intellectual property relating to “Conan the Barbarian” in the sale of this intellectual property first to a public company for stock, and then when the public company went bankrupt, in recovering the intellectual property from the bankruptcy estate and reselling it for cash to a European buyer.

Represented a theme park owner in a dispute with a nationwide operator brought under the New Jersey
Franchise Practices Act and in connection with counterclaims for breach of commercial lease agreement.

Represented a private equity fund in a controlling investment into Killphonic Music Rights, Inc., a music publishing and distribution company. The transaction was a controlled investment structured as convertible preferred stock.

Represented a private equity fund in the acquisition of Barton Music Publishing. The transaction was an asset purchase deal with an indemnity escrow and a holdback.

Represented 26 Capital Acquisition Corp in its proposed merger with Tiger Resort Leisure and Entertainment Inc. (operating as Okada Manilla).

Represented Thomas H. Lee Partners, Lexa Partners, Bain Capital, and Providence Equity Partners in their US$2.6bn acquisition of the Warner Music Group from Time Warner.

Represented entertainment services company in sale to private equity purchaser.

Represented Twin River Worldwide Holdings in its stock merger with Dover Downs Gaming & Entertainment.