The rhythm of footsteps on pavement, beads of sweat dripping down his temples, with the State Capitol in sight . . . completing another marathon, this one in Austin, Lucy Plovnick’s husband paces his way through the finish line. Having just left the Mid-Winter meeting of the Copyright Society of the USA, Lucy found her spot at the end of the route on Congress Avenue to cheer her husband on with her kids in tow, as she has nearly 50 times.

With a goal to complete a marathon in all 50 States, plus D.C., Lucy’s husband doesn’t pursue it in isolation . . . it’s a family affair. With three children ranging in ages from 8 to 15, Lucy points out that personal hobbies are an unaffordable luxury for her at this phase in life. So she and her husband have built travel in to their repertoire as an exciting outlet that they can all share together. And those travel escapades often center around her husband’s continuous marathon schedule.

With so many marathons under their belt as a family, averaging four races a year, their travels have taken them from rural towns in West Virginia to big cities like New Orleans and San Diego. There is a subtle irony to some of their destinations taking them to places that call to mind the nuanced specialty of Lucy’s practice in dealing with distribution and delivery of distant broadcast signals. As Lucy points out, the marathon routes often take them through rural areas, similar to her hometown in Flowery Branch, Georgia, that contain unserved and underserved households which her content-owner clientele attempt to reach with programs imported on distant broadcast signals.

Legal Expertise

Lucy represents media and entertainment industry clients in connection with statutory license royalty matters and in copyright enforcement matters, and has extensive experience as a litigator in proceedings before the Copyright Royalty Judges, the Copyright Office, and state and federal courts.  She also advises tech and video game companies on cybersecurity and privacy issues, providing clients with proactive and sophisticated legal advice regarding data privacy, protection, and compliance issues.  She is certified by the International Association of Privacy Professionals as a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP)/U.S.

Representative Matters

• Counseled on international privacy issues for a EU-based video game developer in connection with a significant transaction.
• Provides ongoing legal advice and counsel to multiple companies concerning a privacy compliance issues.
• Currently assessing and drafting terms of service and data privacy and protection policies (internal and external) for multiple companies.
• Represents copyright owners of syndicated series, movies and specials broadcast by TV stations in copyright royalty and enforcement matters involving cable, satellite, the internet and other delivery systems.
• Represents clients before the Copyright Office, the Copyright Royalty Judges, the Federal Communications Commission, and state and federal courts.
• Represents clients in administrative litigation, including royalty distribution proceedings, rate-setting proceedings, notices of inquiry proceedings, rulemaking proceedings and settlement negotiations.
• Represents clients in appellate litigation, including significant experience before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
• Counsels clients regarding recent FCC regulations and policy, including such issues as closed captioning requirements for programming delivered over internet protocol technology.
• Successfully defended a major motion picture trade association in a contract dispute concerning the distribution of statutory license royalties for cable and satellite television.
• Successfully defended a cable network in a lawsuit concerning record disclosure obligations under the Maryland Public Information Act.
• Drafted and filed numerous appellate briefs in the U.S. Courts of Appeal for the D.C. Circuit and the Ninth Circuit on behalf of copyright owners, a major motion picture trade association, and multiple public utilities.
• Acted as local counsel for a performing rights organization in multiple copyright infringement cases.

Professional, Business and civic Affiliations

• The Copyright Society of the U.S.A.
• Co-Chair, Intellectual Property Law Forum, Women's Bar Association of the District of Columbia
• Federal Communications Bar Association
• The District of Columbia Bar Association
• Massachusetts Bar Association
• Rhode Island Bar Association
• Roger Williams University Law Alumni Association, D.C. Chapter
• Moderator, First Baptist Church of the City of Washington, D.C.

Other Career Experience

• Law Clerk to the Honorable Ronald L. Lagueux, United States District Court, District of Rhode Island
• Law Clerk to the Honorable Robert G. Flanders, Supreme Court of Rhode Island

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