Samuel M. Bayard

Partner

I help creative people make and defend awesome content.

Sam Bayard is a media and intellectual-property attorney with a strong commitment to his clients' freedom of speech and creativity. He works with production companies, networks, streaming services, studios, podcasters, print and digital publishers, and other content creators to find how the law supports their creative visions, rather than standing as an obstacle to them. He gets excited about good content and fights for it tirelessly, whether in the courtroom or in the legal review process.

Sam provides counseling and content review to clients as they acquire, develop, produce, distribute, and promote a wide array of content, from scripted and unscripted television shows, to feature films and news programming. Clients look to Sam for help with high-risk content, including docudramas, documentaries and docuseries, and variety/comedy shows that rely heavily on fair use.

When claims arise, Sam defends his clients' rights effectively, responding to claims and litigating copyright, defamation, right-of-publicity, and other content-related cases across the country. He also taps into DWT's full service platform to assist his clients with production legal, employment, advertising, trademark, chain of title and other issues and works with foreign lawyers to advise clients on the international issues that arise from global distribution.

Practice Highlights

Claims response and litigation

Sam responds to claim letters on behalf of his content-creator clients and represents them in high-profile libel, copyright, privacy, and right-of-publicity litigation and amicus efforts. Representative cases include winning dismissal of a copyright claim against a documentary on fair-use grounds in Kelley v. Morning Bee Inc. (S.D.N.Y. 2023), defending Amazon Studios in a copyright infringement claim against "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel," and obtaining dismissal for Showtime Networks of right-of-publicity and Lanham Act claims brought by Bobby Brown over the documentary "Whitney: Can I Be Me." He also defended Rolling Stone magazine in a high-profile libel trial over its reporting on an alleged gang rape at the University of Virginia, and Getty Images in a copyright trial over photographs of the Haitian earthquake of 2010. Sam also handles responses to subpoenas seeking confidential source and other newsgathering materials.

Documentaries, docuseries, and docudramas

Sam provides libel and fair-use review for challenging documentaries, docuseries, and docudramas, helping content creators achieve their creative and editorial goals while retaining strong legal defenses. Representative projects include "All the Beauty and the Bloodshed," "The Stanford Prison Experiment: Unlocking the Truth," "Chaos: The Manson Murders," "Dear Mama: The Saga of Afeni and Tupac Shakur," "Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields," "Middletown," "This is the Tom Green Documentary," "Sherri Papini: Caught in the Lie," "Depp v. Heard," "Billie Eilish: The World's A Little Blurry," "The Velvet Underground," "Murder in the Bayou," "Broken: Jeffrey Epstein," "Wild Things: Siegfried and Roy," "Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller," "Real PD: Kansas City," "The First 48," "Crime Nation," "Dark Side of the 90s," "Dark Side of the 2000s," "Dark Side of the Ring," "Being the Ricardos," "The Burial," "Escape from Dannemora," and "WeCrashed."

Comedy/variety shows

Sam has provided counseling, content review, and fair-use advice to some of the most beloved and boundary-pushing comedy/variety shows, like "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver," "Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj," "The Daily Show," "The Colbert Report," "Everybody's Live with John Mulaney," "The Chris Gethard Show," and "Problem Areas with Wyatt Cenac."

Pre-broadcast review and counseling for scripted motion pictures and television series

Regularly provides pre-broadcast review and counseling, including advice on copyright and fair use, trademark, defamation, right-of-publicity, and privacy issues, to a variety of scripted film and television projects. Representative projects include "After the Hunt," "Red One," "The Burial," "WeCrashed," "Billions," "Dexter: New Blood," "I Love That For You," "City on a Hill," "The Other Two," "Etoile," "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel," "Masters of the Air," "Disclaimer," "For All Mankind," "The Crowded Room," "Lessons in Chemistry," and "Palm Royale."

Pre-broadcast review and counseling for standup comedy specials

Regularly provides pre-broadcast review and counseling for standup comedy specials. Representative projects include "Pete Davidson: Turbo Fonzarelli," "Matteo Lane: The Al Dente Special," "Anthony Jeselnick: Bones and All," and "No Pardon Needed with Tyler Fischer."

Hajim v. Endemol Shine UK

Defended the London-based producer of the Netflix series, "Black Mirror," in a copyright lawsuit claiming that an episode from the series' fifth season, featuring Miley Cyrus, infringes the copyright in plaintiff's 2012 film, "Strange Frame." The court granted DWT’s motion to dismiss based on lack of substantial similarity and other defenses. (N.D. Ill. 2021)

Parmley v. Amazon Studios

Defended Amazon Studios in a copyright infringement lawsuit arising from plaintiff's allegation that Amazon's award-winning television series "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" infringes the copyright in the plaintiff's memoir and screenplay. DWT moved for summary judgment on various grounds, including lack of substantial similarity, independent creation, and lack of access. The case was successfully resolved. (E.D. La. 2020)

Bobby Brown and the Estate of Bobbi Kristina Brown v. BBC, Showtime Networks, et al.

Defended BBC and Showtime in a lawsuit arising from the acclaimed documentary Whitney: "Can I Be Me" about the late pop star Whitney Houston. Her former husband and the estate of her late daughter sued, alleging that the use of their names and likenesses in the film violated their rights of publicity under California and Georgia law, and Bobby Brown's name in the film violated the Lanham Act. Successfully moved to dismiss BBC on jurisdictional grounds and successfully moved to dismiss the right-of-publicity claims and Lanham Act claims under the First Amendment and statutory exemptions. Bobby Brown also brought a tortious interference claim, but the court declined supplemental jurisdiction and dismissed the case. (U.S. Dist. Ct., S.D.N.Y. 2019)

Admitted to Practice

New York, 2002
Massachusetts, 2010
U.S. Court of Appeals, 6th Circuit, 2012
U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, 2011
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, 2012

Education

J.D., Cornell Law School, 2001, summa cum laude
- Managing Editor, Cornell Law Review
- Order of the Coif
- Kasowitz Prize for Excellence in Legal Writing and Oral Advocacy
- Boardman Third-Year Law Prize
B.A., English Literature, Reed College, 1997
LL.M., International and Comparative Law, The American University in Cairo, 2006

Languages

Arabic, Spanish

Memberships & Affiliations

- New York City Bar Association
- New York State Bar Association
- American Bar Association
- Pre-Publication Review Committee of the Media Law Resource Center
- Co-founder, Online Media Legal Network (pro bono legal assistance for online journalists and other digital media creators)

Professional Recognition

- Named as one of "500 Leading Global Entertainment, Sports & Media Lawyers" by Lawdragon, 2025
- Selected to "New York Rising Stars," Thomson Reuters, 2012

Background

- Fellow, Assistant Director, Citizen Media Law Project, Berkman Center for Internet & Society, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., 2007-2010
- Lecturer on Law, Harvard Law School, Cambridge, Mass., 2008-2010
- Litigation Associate, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, New York, N.Y., 2002-2004
- Law Clerk, Hon. Lewis A. Kaplan, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, New York, N.Y., 2001-2002