Overview
Rowley J. Rice is an attorney in the Los Angeles office of Munger, Tolles & Olson whose practice focuses on commercial litigation and intellectual property disputes, particularly in the media, entertainment and technology industries.
His experience includes significant summary judgment and trial victories, including one of the largest ever statutory damages awards in a copyright infringement case. Rowley also regularly counsels clients on copyright and other intellectual property issues.
Rowley represented the plaintiffs in securing a historic preliminary injunction that eliminated the enforcement of Los Angeles County’s unconstitutional cash bail schedule for individuals arrested on most low-level, non-violent offenses. The victory was recognized by the American Lawyer as a runner up for its Litigator of the Week award. Rowley also received the Daily Journal’s California Lawyer Attorney of the Year (CLAY) Award for his work on the matter.
Within the firm, he serves as chair of the Paul Davis MTO Associate Fund, which makes donations to charitable organizations in the Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. communities.
Capabilities
Industries
Experience
Media, Entertainment & Copyright Litigation
Significant Representations
Walt Disney Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox and Paramount Pictures, in obtaining summary judgment on claims for indirect profits on alleged secondary copyright infringement based on a third-party vendor’s use of motion capture software on six of the biggest films of the 2010s. On the seventh film at issue, a jury awarded the plaintiff than $350,000 in profits and the court granted judgment in the defendant’s favor.
Disney, Lucasfilm, Fox, Marvel, New Line, Turner Entertainment and another studio in winning a $62.4 million jury verdict in a copyright infringement and circumvention action against VidAngel. Representation was recognized on the Daily Journal’s list of Top Verdicts for 2019.
News Break, a news aggregator and technology company, in litigation against a publisher for copyright infringement and breach of contract.
Commercial Litigation
Snap, in ongoing multidistrict litigation in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, and a California state court coordinated proceeding, alleging injuries to minor users from alleged “addiction” to social media.
The Los Angeles Clippers in litigation against the Madison Square Garden Company, which challenged the development of the Clippers’ new arena in Inglewood, California.
PNC Bank in patent litigation relating to mobile check deposit and auto-capture technology.
A toy manufacturer and former executives in a federal securities fraud class action.
More
- California Lawyer Attorneys of the Year, Daily Journal, 2024
Publications
- “Avoiding Copyright Liability For Tattoo Depiction In Media,”Law360, 23, 2020
- “We Are Not Interested: How Dominant Political Parties Use Campaign Finance Law to Lock Interest Groups and Third Parties Out of the System,” Southern California Law Review, Vol. 89(4), p. 917, May 2016
