Introduction
Coast to coast, DWT is a recognized leader in
the communications/media law field, and was recently selected by
Chambers USA as the winner of its 2007 Award for Excellence in media
law. DWT represents emerging and established companies on some of
today's most challenging issues, and clients include traditional
and new media, advertisers, major online networks and information
service providers, satellite communications companies, Internet
start-ups, website designers, licensees and purchasers of large
systems, and developers and publishers of software, from individual
entrepreneurs to the largest multinational corporations.
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In the News
First Amendment Law Letter (FALL)
First Amendment Law Letter [Winter 2008]
In this issue:
 previous editions of FALL
News & Bulletins
California Court of Appeal Affirms Defamation Decision: Court supports broad opinion protection and rejects survey evidence in establishing defamatory meaning [May. 2008]
read bulletin
9th Circuit Affirms Immunity for Pure Third-Party Web Content: En banc decision defines scope of immunity for mixed-content websites [Apr. 2008] read bulletin Washington Court of Appeals: Records Requesters Can Be Excluded from Public Records Disclosure Litigation [Nov. 2007] read bulletin
DWT's Bob
Corn-Revere argues before the 3rd U.S. Cirucuit Court of Appeals,
defending CBS Corporation against the FCC fines for the 2004 Jackson/Timberlake
"wardrobe malfunction". For more coverage of the case,
please click links below.
Advising, Counseling, and Representing Clients in Technology
Disputes read more
By Joseph
E. Addiego III
Reproduced with permission from Aspatore
Inc.'s Inside the Minds- Technology Law Client Strategies
publication
California Supreme Court Strongly Reaffirms Right of Access to Information
about Public Employees [Aug. 2007] read bulletin
Davis Wright Tremaine Partner Eric Stahl Appointed Copyright Society
National Trustee [Aug. 2007] read more
Ninth Circuit Issues Short Decision on Online Contracts with Potentially
Far-Reaching Implications [July 2007]
read
bulletin
Robert Corn-Revere Selected As One of the D.C. Area's Top 10 Communications
Lawyers by Legal Times [July 2007]
view
article
Supreme Court Decision Raises The Bar For Plaintiffs' Antitrust
Lawsuits [Reproduced with permission
from Telecommunications Industry Litigation Reporter] read
article
Davis Wright Tremaine’s National Media Law Practice Group
Receives Award of Excellence from Chambers USA [June 2007] read more
Davis Wright Tremaine's Media, Entertainment & First Amendment
Practice Receives High Marks from Chambers USA: America’s
Leading Lawyers for Business Guide
[June 2007] read more
FCC Requests Comments on Changes to Its Commercial Leased Access
and Program Carriage Rules [June 2007]
read
bulletin
Second Circuit Rejects FCC’s “Fleeting Expletives”
Policy; Questions Indecency Regime [June 2007] read
bulletin
Kelli L. Sager Named One of “50 Most Influential Women Lawyers
in America” [June 2007] read
more
Click
here for a complete listing of our advisories.
Presentations & Publications
Implementing a Flag-Desecration Amendment
to the U.S. Constitution read
article
FirstAmendmentCenter.org,
July 2005
New York's Highest Court Upholds Ban on
Televising Trials read
article
FirstAmendmentCenter.org, July 14, 2005
Fraudulent Clicks and Selling Trademarks as Keywords:
Current Legal Issues Facing Search Engines and Their Advertisers
[May 2005] read
bulletin
Communications Lawyer,
Winter 2005
Boehner v.
McDermott: Trafficking in Illegally Intercepted Information read
article
Reproduced with permission.
Click
here for a complete listing of our advisories.
Our Clients
DWT's clients are as diverse as our practice. Our media clients include
many of the nation's most recognized print and online publishers as
well as major network news organizations, producers of news and entertainment
programs for cable and broadcast television, and regional and local
publishers and broadcasters. Our telecommunications and technology
clients range from small wireless and landline carriers at the state
level to international telephony carriers, as well as online networks,
information service providers and major software developers and publishers.
We also represent insurance carriers for the purpose of monitoring
and supervising litigation by outside counsel. A sampling of our national
clients includes Sesame Workshop, Random House, New York Daily News,
Village Voice Media, Simon & Schuster, McGraw-Hill, Wenner Media,
Paramount Pictures, Columbia Pictures, CBS, St. Martin's Press, Microsoft
Corp., Viacom and AOL/Time Warner.
Related Practice Areas
Advertising
& Marketing Law
Broadcast
Entertainment
Intellectual Property
Music
Newspapers & Publishing
Telecommunications
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Department Members
- Los Angeles
Robyn Aronson
William F. Bly
Jill R. Cohen
Camilo Echavarria
Jeff Glasser
Janet Grumer
Mary Haas
Karen Henry
Joshua Radis
Kelli L. Sager
Henry J. Tashman
Andrew J. Thomas
Kevin L. Vick
Alonzo Wickers IV
Rochelle L. Wilcox
- New York
Deborah Adler
Robert D. Balin
R. A. Boose
Kevan Choset
M. Graham Coleman
John R. Cuti
Deirdre Davis
Edward J. Davis
Robert J. Driscoll
Nancy J. Felsten
Carolyn K. Foley
Claude P. Goetz
Laura R. Handman
Lance Koonce
Victor A. Kovner
Elizabeth A. McNamara
Maya Menendez
Elisa L. Miller
Alexandra Nicholson
Leonard Orkin
Andrew Owens
Marcia B. Paul
James Rosenfeld
Kevin F. Saer
Sharon L. Schneier
Linda Steinman
Wendy Szymanski
Bryan M. Tallevi
- Portland
Duane A. Bosworth
Eric L. Dahlin
Kevin H. Kono
Rodney E. Lewis
Carol A. Noonan
Mark Trinchero
Vanessa Usui
Julie Weston
- San Francisco
Thomas R. Burke
Duffy Carolan
Michelle D. Fife
Suzanne K. Toller
Rochelle L. Wilcox
- Seattle
Nigel Avilez
Kraig L. Baker
Stuart R. Dunwoody
Sarah K. Duran
Jeffrey L. Fisher
Randy Gainer
Bruce E. Johnson
Michael J. Killeen
Gregory J. Kopta
Rick L. Leitner
Jennifer A. Lenga Long
Catherine Maxson
Marshall J. Nelson
A. P. Parsons
Douglas C. Ross
Anne C. Shelby
Jennifer Small
Eric M. Stahl
Daniel M. Waggoner
Julie Weston
- Washington, D.C.
Brigham J. Bowen
Burt Braverman
Maria T. Browne
Adam S. Caldwell
Theresa Cavanaugh
Maurita K. Coley
Robert Corn-Revere
Richard L. Cys
John C. Dodge
Liz Drogula
Rory Eastburg
Chris Fedeli
Ann E. Flowers
Richard A. Gibbs
Frederick W. Giroux
Paul Glist
Madie Gustafson
K.C. Halm
Laura R. Handman
Wesley R. Heppler
Brendan Holland
Steven J. Horvitz
Paul B. Hudson
Brian J. Hurh
Amber Husbands
James F. Ireland
Ronald G. London
Randall B. Lowe
Bryan T. McGinnis
Maria C. Moran
Brian Nixon
David D. Oxenford
Constance M. Pendleton
Daniel P. Reing
Karen A. Ross
Christopher W. Savage
Robert G. Scott
John D. Seiver
David M. Shapiro
David M. Silverman
Michael C. Sloan
James M. Smith
T. Scott Thompson
Jennifer M. Toland
James W. Tomlinson
Jill M. Valenstein
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Range of Services Offered
Serving
National and Regional Clients
Our media clients include many of the nation's most prominent publishers
of newspapers, books, and magazines, as well as major network news
organizations, producers of news and entertainment programs for cable
and broadcast television, and regional and local publishers and broadcasters.
We also represent insurance
carriers for the purpose of monitoring and supervising litigation
by outside counsel.
Defamation,
Privacy, Newsgathering and the First Amendment
Our experience in this area is unparalleled and encompasses matters
of national, local and international concern. Our lawyers have extensive
experience in all types of communications and media litigation, including
defamation and privacy defense and a wide range of First Amendment
matters before the U.S. Supreme Court and in federal and state trial
and appellate courts throughout the country. The firm has represented
CNN and other news organizations in important "ride-along"
newsgathering cases. Our lawyers have defended media clients in obscenity
actions, including one brought by Oklahoma City officials to declare
the movie The Tin Drum unlawful child pornography. Before joining
the firm, our New York attorneys successfully represented Business
Week in overturning a prior restraint imposed by a federal district
court. Our New York attorneys also bring extensive international experience,
securing recognition of significant press protections from a Taiwanese
court in a criminal libel action, and establishing legal authority
for U.S. courts to decline to enforce British libel judgments as repugnant
to U.S. public policy. Our preeminence in commercial speech law is
illustrated by our ongoing representation of some of the nation's
leading advertisers on First Amendment issues, and by our amicus briefs
on behalf of the broadcast and print media and advertising industry
in every significant commercial speech case before the U.S. Supreme
Court in the past decade.
Around-the-Clock
Delivery of Prepublication and Newsgathering Counseling
Mindful of the need to deliver efficient services to meet the challenges
of breaking news, the Department is organized to provide around-the-clock
prepublication and pre-telecast review, general counseling, and rapid
response to newsroom "emergencies" such as threatened prior
restraints. We routinely serve media throughout the country.
The firm provides "hotline" service, making available our
geographically dispersed lawyers to respond quickly to newsroom legal
issues. Our hotline services are an efficient and cost-effective way
to encourage quick and appropriate use of legal services for print
and broadcast journalists.
Our Newspaper Practice Group focuses these services for individual
newspapers, as well as newspaper groups and associations. We also
provide pre-telecast review for documentaries, docudramas and other
entertainment productions. Our First Amendment attorneys understand
that speed is often critical in responding to newsroom legal issues.
Our experience in opposing last-minute attempts to enjoin publication
or broadcast and in quashing subpoenas of journalists, notes and outtakes
means we are unusually well equipped to provide such services on a
moment's notice. We successfully represented all news media seeking
to televise the criminal trial of O.J. Simpson, and routinely help
clients secure access to courtrooms and public records in numerous
state and federal jurisdictions.
Intellectual Property Law
Our representation of media and technology clients includes the full
range of intellectual property services, including:
- negotiation of publication, production,
and syndication agreements
- domain name disputes
- copyright ownership, use, and licensing
matters
- U.S. and foreign trademark analysis
and registrations
- and related proceedings and litigation
We regularly serve as outside copyright
and trademark counsel to national cable and broadcast television
networks. Our experience in media-related intellectual property
litigation ranges from arguing before the Supreme Court to representing
parties in proceedings before the Trademark Trial & Appeal Board.
We also represent a broad variety of clients in the protection and
licensing of literary and artistic properties. Our lawyers counsel
a wide range of clients in the entertainment, communications and
computer industries, including television producers and distributors,
online networks, songwriters, music publishers, recording artists,
record companies, computer software developers, authors, and multimedia
and CD-ROM publishers. In addition to intellectual property advice,
we also provide regulatory, legislative, and transaction advice
to these clients. visit DWT's Intellectual Property website
Advertising & Marketing
Law
Our advertising law practice is a natural outgrowth of both our
intellectual property and First Amendment commercial speech experience.
In addition to serving as special First Amendment counsel to national
advertisers, we provide day-to-day service to local and national
advertisers, advertising agencies, and media in such matters as
copy review, comparative advertising, promotional contests and premiums,
and unfair competition. visit DWT's Advertising & Marketing website
Telecommunications
The Telecommunications Practice Group represents a large range of
national and regional clients across the spectrum of communications
industries, including competitive telecommunications providers,
wireless carriers, and large telecommunications users. The group
possesses a wide range of experience, advising clients on local,
state, federal and international issues. The practice encompasses
several key areas including:
- regulatory compliance with federal and
state rules
- license applications and renewals
- access to rights of way and related
property issues, cable and franchise
issues
- communications-related acquisitions
and mergers, investments and financial restructuring
- multiple and foreign ownership issues
- analysis of foreign telecommunications
laws
Since the passage of the Telecommunications
Act of 1996, the group has focused on the full range of issues confronting
clients, both wireless and wireline carriers, entering local telecommunications
markets across the country. The group has represented clients before
the FCC and state commissions on many of the major proceedings following
the passage of the Act. We have represented clients in interconnection
negotiations and arbitrations opposite the Bell Companies and other
incumbent carriers in over twenty states across the country. We
have also represented clients in appeals of state commission arbitration
decisions and in opposing Bell Company applications for interLATA
relief under Section 271 of the Act. We routinely provide advice
to clients on state and federal issues that impact their provision
of telecommunications services in evolving competitive markets.
Our national presence provides DWT with the unique ability to provide
to clients advice that reflects the national scope of communications
law today. visit DWT's Telecommunications website
Antitrust
Our lawyers regularly advise national media and entertainment entities
on antitrust issues involving mergers and acquisitions (and filing
of premerger notifications under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act), distribution
matters, relationships with advertisers, litigation, and Federal
Trade Commission and Department of Justice investigations. visit DWT's Antitrust website
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