Civil Litigation

Entertainment Litigation

Entertainment litigation covers a number of different overlapping areas of the law. The firm brings its broad based business litigation background to bear on the specific issues that arise in the entertainment field, including breach of contract, labor and guild disputes, royalty claims, and other issues.

Entertainment disputes also often involve tort claims, such as privacy, libel, and slander. Such claims frequently raise First Amendment issues, and the firm has extensive experience at both the trial and appellate levels with California’s Anti-SLAPP statute, which is designed to weed out non-meritorious claims implicating the First Amendment at an early stage.

The firm has represented all types of clients in the industry, including studios, small production companies, and talent.

Representative Results

• Secured a complete dismissal for one client, the CEO of a video distribution company, and a low five-figure settlement for another client, the distribution company itself, after they were both sued for breach of contract and fraud relating to distribution of DVDs and videotapes. The plaintiff had originally sought compensatory damages in excess of $7 million.
• Obtained a favorable settlement for the director and writer of a motion picture after he was sued for defamation because of alleged defamatory portrayals of actual people in the motion picture