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) will present 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,…
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…
Weintraub client Unwell signed a deal for its Unwell Hydration brand to sponsor The National Women’s Soccer League, in Unwell Hydration’s first partnership since the brand’s creation. The brand, founded by the most popular podcaster among women, Alex Cooper, will promote the league in an effort to draw more young…
Weintraub client and writer Chase Palmer is working with Netflix, AGBO, and director James Ashcroft on a film adaptation of the crime thriller novel, The Whisper Man, by Alex North. Chase Palmer adapted the script. Robert De Niro will star in the film, which follows a widow crime writer who,…
Longtime Weintraub client and film producer Patrick Wachsberger partnered with Legendary Entertainment to create a new production company called 193. Named after the number of territories that buy film rights, the company will develop and produce its own projects, work with third-party producers and financiers, and handle international distribution for completed…
Longtime Weintraub client and filmmaker Anant Singh has been appointed to the Global Arts and Culture Council (GACC), which was inaugurated at the latest session of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos. The Global Arts and Culture Council (GACC) was established in the context of the shifting world from…
Weintraub Tobin is pleased to welcome Richard D. Buckley, Jr. as a shareholder to the Firm. A tenured litigator with over 25 years in practice, Richard has served as lead counsel in hundreds of matters for a wide variety of clients, including professional sports arenas and teams, automotive dealerships, commercial…
Weintraub Tobin is pleased to welcome Bunnie Poullard as a senior attorney in the Firm’s Corporate and Entertainment practice groups. She is based in the Firm’s Los Angeles location, where she represents clients in a wide variety of corporate and transactional matters, including mergers and acquisitions, financings, joint ventures, and…
Weintraub Tobin congratulates Brookstreet Pictures and the team of “The Brutalist” on their wins at the 2025 Golden Globe Awards. The film won three total awards, including Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Director (Brady Corbet), and Best Male Actor (Adrien Brody). It was also nominated for Best Screenplay, Best…
Weintraub client and media personality Caleb Pressley is breaking away from Barstool Sports to launch his own production company, Bill Joe Productions, which will take over the production and distribution of his popular show, Sundae Conversation. Pressley will partner with Tom Brady’s creative agency, Shadow Lion, on sales and talent production for…
“Up in Smoke” has been inducted into the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry. One of 25 films selected from thousands of entries for preservation this year, the 1978 cult-classic comedy was first feature film from Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong. Other films inducted this year include “Spy Kids” (2001),…
Weintraub Tobin is pleased to announce that Shaun Gordon has been named to Variety’s 2024 Dealmakers Impact Report. Shaun is a partner at Weintraub Tobin and member of the Firm’s Entertainment & Media group, where he represents creators and companies across digital media and podcasts, as well as authors, actors,…
Apple Films picked up the feature documentary, Deaf President Now!, from Weintraub client Concordia Studio. The film was co-directed by Deaf actor, filmmaker, and advocate Nyle DiMarco and Oscar-winning documentarian Davis Guggenheim, and produced by Weintraub client Jonathan King alongside Michael Harte and Amanda Rohlke. The film tells the story of the 1988 protests at…
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…
