The entertainment attorneys at Weintraub Tobin represent individuals and companies in all aspects of the entertainment and media industries. Areas of emphasis include:
On November 14th, The Hollywood Radio & Television Society (HRTS) presented an informative MCLE webinar, HRTS Unscripted: The Impact of Generative AI on Nonfiction. Weintraub shareholder Scott Hervey will moderate a panel discussion about the ethical, legal, and business impacts of generative AI on the fields of nonfiction, reality, documentary,…
On Thursday, July 24th, Weintraub Attorney Matt Sugarman will participate in a panel at the 2024 San Diego Comic-Con, “From Idea to Shelves.” The panel brings together professionals who assist authors in taking a project from blank page to launch, including agent, manager, attorney, publisher, and producer. Matt will discuss strategies and…
On Tuesday, April 9th, Weintraub attorneys will participate in a panel from the Barristers’ Club of San Francisco Bar Association’s (BASF) Pathways to Partnership Series. Part 1 of 2, “Transitioning from Senior Associate to Junior Partner,” will focus the panel discussion on the journey from associate to junior partner and…
On September 8, Weintraub Shareholder Matt Sugarman will present as part of the American Bar Association webinar Comic Book Law 101. This panel will explore the comic book industry, its place in greater pop culture, and the key legal issues attorneys practicing in this area should know. Topics covered will include…
Summary of ProgramUnfortunately, both single-plaintiff and class-action wage and hour lawsuits continue to plague California employers. Often employers are sued because of technical violations that occur simply because the employer is unaware of its legal obligations. Come join the Labor and Employment Group at Weintraub Tobin as they discuss the…
Join us July 23!Weintraub Tobin and LAVA Digital Media Group will host a conversation with Ethan Applen, the executive director of Media Camp, a Turner/Warner Brothers Initiative, on Tuesday, July 23th. The conversation will focus on the opportunities and challenges with owning a startup company and will include a demo…
Join Us April 23! Weintraub Tobin and the LAVA Digital Media Group will host a panel discussion: “How Has Digital Media Changed the Way We Interact with Food” on Tuesday, April 23. Whether it’s finding a place to eat, sharing recommendations on your favorite dishes or ordering food online, investors…
Weintraub Tobin and Moss Adams are co-sponsoring the LAVA Digital Media Group’s panel discussion: “What’s Ahead for Digital Media in 2013” on Tuesday, February 26. Making predictions in digital media can be challenging. At this time last year who even knew what Pinterest was, let alone that it would explode…
In a June 24th article for FTC Watch, Chris May writes about the changing landscape of influencer marketing and how recent lawsuits and updates to FTC guidance is impacting the ‘creator economy.’ Weintraub intellectual property and entertainment attorney Scott Hervey spoke with FTC Watch about a $150 Million class-action lawsuit…
HBO has secured the rights to “Baby Queen,” a sought-after drama project based on the upcoming novel of the same name by crime fiction writer and Weintraub Tobin client Ty Landers. The rights to the highly-anticipated debut novel from Landers were the subject of a 10-way bidding war, ultimately won…
Apple TV+ is producing a limited TV show based on the Apple original podcast, “Wild Things: Siegfried & Roy,” created and produced by award-winning podcast company and Weintraub client At Will Media. The eight-part series will star Jude Law and Andrew Garfield as the iconic magicians Siegfried & Roy. At…
Award-winning podcast host and Weintraub client Guy Raz is partnering with point-of-sale software giant Square to launch a new video series showcasing stories of entrepreneurial growth and success, “The Way Up.” The series features interviews with six businesses powered by Square, highlighting their journeys of scaling up from initial concepts…
North American rights to the feature film “Omaha,” produced by LA-based production company and Weintraub client Sanctuary Content, have been acquired by Greenwich Entertainment. After premiering to much critical acclaim at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, the Americana drama is set to release in theaters across the country…
Award-winning podcaster and Weintraub client Guy Raz is among the initial group of creators to partner with LinkedIn on a new content partnership framework that will include sharing advertising revenue with a select group of creators. The change comes after the network debuted their own full-screen video feed earlier this…
Co-creator and host of the megahit podcast “Call Her Daddy” Alex Cooper will be the subject of a new docuseries from Hulu launching this summer 2025, aptly titled “Call Her Alex.” The two-part documentary follows Cooper as she prepares for her inaugural tour, taking a look behind-the-scenes through her early…
Award-winning podcast production company At Will Media is producing the first scripted podcast series for Apple with “Easy Money: The Charles Ponzi Story.” Set to premier on June 23, 2025, the eight-part original series tells the story of the infamous Italian immigrant who gave the Ponzi scheme its name. The…
Five Weintraub clients have been recognized by The Podcast Academy at the fifth annual Ambies, a series of awards recognizing those in the audio entertainment industry. Guy Raz was awarded ‘Best Business Podcast’ for his hit show How I Built This on NPR. Small But Mighty Media won ‘Best News Podcast,’ and Tinkercast won…
Weintraub Tobin is honored to announce that Matthew N. Sugarman has been selected to the 2025 Variety Legal Impact Report. Matt Sugarman is a shareholder at Weintraub Tobin and member of the Firm’s Entertainment & Media practice group. He represents authors, screenwriters, producers, and directors in cutting-edge deals. His recent…
Weintraub Tobin is pleased to announce three of the Firm’s attorneys have been recognized on the 2025 Super Lawyers® Southern California and San Diego lists. Gary Waldron has been recognized on the 2025 Super Lawyers Southern California list for his practice in Business Litigation for the 21st consecutive year. A…
In the realm of copyright law, determining the scope of damages and the applicability of the statute of limitations remains a contentious issue. The Supreme Court case of Nealy v. Warner Chappell Music (argued before the Court in February of this year) promises to shed light on this matter, grappling…
In December 2019, Scott Hervey wrote about the copyright infringement lawsuit filed against Taylor Swift by the writers of the song “Playas Gon’ Play.” The song was released by the girl group 3LW in 2001 and included the lyrics “Playa, they gonna play / And haters, they gonna hate.” In…
New York’s post mortem right-of-publicity statute recently came into effect. Its previous right-of-publicity laws were an extension of its statutory right of privacy which provided that “any person whose name [or likeness] is used within [New York] for advertising [or trade] purposes without . . . written consent” can sue…
In the 9th Circuit (as well as the 2nd, 5th, 6th, and 11th Circuits), the test for determining whether the use of a third-party trademark in an expressive work (i.e., use of a brand within a movie, TV series, video game, etc., including as part of the title of an…
The motion picture Wolf of Wall Street was based on a book of the same title written by Jordan Belmont. In the book, Andrew Greene, who was director, general counsel, and head of the corporate finance department at Stratton Oakmont between 1993 and 1996, was discussed extensively. In the book,…
Virginia Vallejo, a well known Colombian journalist and media personality, authored the memoir “Loving Pablo, Hating Escobar”. The book is a factual account of her romantic relationship with Pablo Escobar and a chronicle of the rise of the Colombian drug cartel. Vallejo claimed that certain scenes in the television series Narcos infringed…
The USPTO recently refused legendary quarterback Tom Brady’s application to register the mark TOM TERRIFIC. If you’re like me, you’re wondering why Tom Brady would want to register such a trademark. Well, according to Brady, he wanted to obtain the rights to the mark to prevent people from referring to…
For those of you that watched the red carpet happenings at last year’s Golden Globe Awards, you may have noticed the “Fiji Water Girl”, a model standing ready to keep Hollywood glitterati hydrated with bottles of Fiji water, photobombing numerous shots of celebrities. Her presence on the red carpet created…
The Trademark Trial and Appeals Board’s recent ruling in In re Productos Verde Valle, S.A. de C.V. upholding a trademark examiner’s refusal to register the mark SONIA for “sauces; chili sauce; hot sauce” holds a lesson for those of us that regularly advise clients on the registrability (and usability) of…
Recently, a client asked why we included a short form option agreement and a short form assignment agreement as an exhibit to a long form literary option agreement. I am sure that many a corporate transactional attorney has similarly wondered why a short form copyright assignment agreement is included within…
Have you ever had the experience of attempting to register a social media account in the name of your business only to find that your preferred name is taken? Often, it’s just the case of another business with the same name having registered that account first. Other times, it’s evidence…
