Legal Expertise

Mr. Frackman has been a “go-to” lawyer for the entertainment industry through his stewardship of many of the most important copyright and trademark cases to have been litigated in recent years. Mr. Frackman is recognized as one of the nation’s leading entertainment and intellectual property litigators, having successfully represented clients in a number of landmark cases in state and federal trial and appellate courts. Mr. Frackman was lead counsel for the record company plaintiffs in the seminal Internet file sharing litigation, A&M Records, Inc. v. Napster, 239 F.3d 1004 (9th Cir. 2001), and 284 F.3d 1091 (9th Cir. 2002), In re Aimster Copyright Litigation, 334 F.3d 643 (7th Cir. 2003), and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, et al. v. Grokster, Ltd, et al., 545 U.S. 913 (2005). Mr. Frackman was also the lawyer in two precedent-setting decisions involving the scope of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), Rossi v. Motion Picture Assn of America, Inc., 391 F.3d 1000 (9th Cir. 2004) concerning the notice and takedown provisions of the DMCA, and 321 Studios v. MGM, 307 F. Supp. 2d 1085 (N.D. Cal. 2004) concerning the anti-circumvention provisions of the DMCA.

Representative Matters

• Lead counsel in the Ninth Circuit for defendant in E.S.S. Entertainment 2000, Inc. v. Rock Star Videos, 547 F.3d 1095 (9th Cir. 2008), involving First Amendment issues concerning the use of trademarks in video games. 
• Representation of Jay-Z and Linkin Park, among others, in a copyright infringement action involving the song "Big Pimpin’."
• Lead counsel for record company and music publisher clients in more than 100 related copyright infringement cases arising from the alleged unauthorized “sampling” of musical works in musical compositions and sound recordings, most recently arguing in the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Bridgeport Music, Inc. v. WB Music, Inc., 520 F.3d 588 (6th Cir. 2008), involving recovery of attorneys’ fees under the Copyright Act. 
• Litigated actions in the state and federal courts on behalf of copyright holders against user-generated content websites: UMG Recordings v. Veoh, Supreme Court, New York No. 08/600558; and EMI v. Videoegg, District Court, New York, Case No. 08 CV 5831. 
• Was retained to represent NBC/Universal to police the Internet for unauthorized uses of material from the 2008 Olympic games. 
• Represented NBC/Universal in several copyright infringement actions involving motion pictures, including defeating a request to enjoin release of the motion picture “Death Race:” Stone v. Universal City Studios LLLP, et al., U.S. District Court, California, Case No. CV 08-5423 DSF. 
• Counsel for plaintiff in claim for copyright infringement against search engine “image search” function, Perfect 10 v. Google, Inc., 416 F. Supp. 2d 828 (C.D. Cal 2006); aff’d in part and rev’d in part 487 F.3d 701 (9th Cir. 2007). 
• Counsel for amicus NBC Universal in Tur v. YouTube, Inc., 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 50254 2007, WL 1893635 (C.D. Cal., June 20, 2007). 
• Successfully obtained summary judgment defending an infringement claim brought against a record company client and involving a hit recording of the rap artist 50 Cent, Lil’ Joe Wein Music, Inc. v. Jackson, 2006 U.S. Dist. Lexis 78367 (S.D. Fla. October 27, 2006); affd 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19165, 2007 WL 2274519 (11th Cir., August 8, 2007). 
• Counsel for defendant in litigation involving pre-emption of right of publicity claims based on use of recording artist’s voice fixed in a sound recording, Laws v. Sony Music Entertainment, Inc. 448 F. 3d 1134 (9th Cir. 2006). 
• Defense of claims of trademark infringement and unfair competition seeking damages and to enjoin the hit recording “Barbie Girl.” Mattel, Inc. v. MCA Records, Inc. 296 F.3d 894 (9th Cir. 2002).