Areas of Practice
LITIGATION
We routinely litigate in the State and Federal courts in New York, through all parts of the litigation process, from filing the pleadings, to engaging in discovery, depositions, settlement conferences, motion practice, picking a jury, and trying a case to a verdict.
COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT
Copyright infringement includes the unauthorized use or publication of a creator's work. We regularly handle matters of copyright infringement of photographic images, illustrations, music and other works. We also represent clients in matters concerning the circumvention of their copyright management information, such as when a watermark is removed from an image without the creator's authorization.
LICENSE AGREEMENTS
A license agreement typically grants a limited right to use a work for a specific purpose and duration. We draft and negotiate agreements for the licensing of images or other works, as well as for the assignment of images or other works. An assignment is much broader than a license and occurs when a creator transfers to antoher all of its rights in a given work.
MODELS' and entertainers' RIGHTS
Models and entertainers have rights in the use of their name, likeness, image, and persona in the trade, advertising and commercial contexts. We represent individuals (including models, celebrities and lay people), whose name, image, likeness or persona have been used without their consent.
RELEASES
Releases are often required for the use of a person's image in an advertisement or for a commercial purpose, and similarly required for a location used in photography or film. We prepare model, property and other releases for our clients, and help our clients with various issues that arise relating to the need for such releases.
REPRESENTATION AGREEMENTS and contract disputes
We draft and negotiate representation agreements between photographers and their reps/agents, models and their management companies, and others. We also represent clients concerning disputes over these types and other types of agreements, including but not limited to disputes concerning monies due but not paid, breach of licensing agreements, and agent/photographer disputes.
About Us
For nearly four decades, our practice is principally dedicated to issues involving intellectual property. We typically perform services for photographers, models, model agencies, gallery owners, artists, illustrators, stock photography companies, entertainers and anyone whose image, photo or likeness has been used without their consent. Such cases may take the form of a copyright or trademark infringement, breach of a license to use an image and/or the exploitation of a model or any person who may be the subject of a photograph. We litigate these types of cases in both state courts and predominantly in the United States District Courts (Federal).
We also author form invoices, estimates, model vouchers, releases and contracts used by and between photographers, agents, models, model agencies, production companies and advertising agencies. Our firm has decades of experience in the handling of transactions and claims made by members of the photographic, modeling, entertainment and advertising communities.
A partial representative list of cases can be found here. The public information associated with each case may be accessed via their respective court's websites.
For over 38 years, we have represented and currently represent photographers, film directors, actors, models, model agencies, photo agents, artists and illustrators, located in nearly every state in the United States as well as in the UK, EU, Viet Nam, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Australia and South America. We have access to experts in business practices and technical aspects of modeling, photography, advertising, publishing, stock photography and social media. We have offices in New York City and White Plains, NY and frequently see clients in Florida, Las Vegas and California.