Media and Entertainment
Go-to firm for high-stakes litigation in the entertainment industry
We help film and television studios, record labels, content creators and social media platforms handle their highest-profile matters, defending the intellectual property behind blockbuster franchises, obtaining multi-million-dollar verdicts and settlements against infringers, handling sensitive internal investigations, guiding billion-dollar mergers through challenging antitrust reviews and addressing new issues regarding NFTs and copyright termination. Ranked in Band 1 for Media and Entertainment – California by Chambers USA, and listed as a Law360 Practice Group of the Year, Munger, Tolles & Olson’s Media and Entertainment practice has set and defended precedents that have shaped the entertainment industry.
Services
Our broad-ranging Media and Entertainment practice includes the following areas:
Copyright and Intellectual Property
- Mass piracy
- Copyright infringement
- Licensing and Distribution
Antitrust
Matters
- Monopolization
- Restraint of Trade
- Anticompetitive Agreements
Licensing and Participation
- Affiliated Dealing
- Audit Disputes
- Streaming Services
Internal Matters and Business Disputes
- Internal Investigations
- Class Actions
- Product Counseling
Clients
We represent media and entertainment leaders who trust both our advice and our effectiveness in litigation, including:
- A + E Studios
- Disney
- Fox Broadcasting
- Marvel Studios
- NBCUniversal
- Recording Industry Assoc. of America
- Sony Pictures
- Warner Music Group
- Activision Blizzard
- ESPN
- Hulu
- Motion Picture Association
- Netflix
- Snap
- Universal Music Group
- CAA
- Fox
- Lucasfilm
- National Geographic
- Paramount
- Sony Music Entertainment
- Warner Bros. Discovery
Related Practices
Our nationally ranked attorneys have addressed a wide range of challenges for entertainment and media clients, including:
Team
Experience
Our representations include:
- Publishers, film studios and television productions against claims of copyright infringement for ideas and characters.
- Film studios in defending against claims of copyright infringement from a vendor’s unlicensed use of motion-capture software.
- Motion picture studios in sensitive matters regarding potential termination of copyright transfer issues underlying major franchises.
- A film studio in favorably settling claims that the basic elements of genre movies can be copyrighted.
- The music industry in litigation to make stream-ripping services illegal.
- Film and television studios in successful battles against illegal streaming services, winning injunctions, asset seizures and millions in damages.
- A streaming service in legal action over the commercialization of fan-created content derived from a hit show.
- A streaming service in dismissing a wrongful death class action related to the content of a series.
- A streaming service against allegations that dubbing a foreign-language film in English infringed the copyright of an original English-language version of the film.
- A streaming service in dismissing a $1 billion copyright infringement suit against a popular series
- A film studio in dismissing a consumer class action over an actor appearing briefly in a trailer but not in the film.
- A film studio navigating recently relaxed Department of Justice rules on owning chains of movie theaters.
Contact
News
Kelly Klaus Named to the 2024 Power Lawyers List by The Hollywood Reporter
Munger, Tolles & Olson Receives 55 Chambers Rankings in 2024 Guides
