Alonzo Wickers IV

Partner

Our clients develop, produce, and distribute great content; we help them navigate legal and business challenges every step along the way.

Content creators enjoy a broad range of First Amendment and fair use rights. Al Wickers works with production companies, networks, streaming services, studios, print and digital publishers, and other content creators to exercise those rights without undue fear of claims. Al strives to learn each client's creative and editorial goals, as well as its legal and business risk tolerances.

In practice, that means that he provides 24/7 counseling to his clients as they acquire, develop, produce, distribute, and promote a range of content, from scripted and unscripted television series to feature films, and from investigative reporting to video games. In the rare instances when his clients' content is challenged, he vigorously and effectively defends their rights, responding to claims and litigating cases across the country. He also taps into DWT's full service platform to assist his clients with production legal, employment, advertising, business formation, trademark, chain of title and many other issues, and collaborates with counsel across the globe to ensure that his clients don't run afoul of international laws and customs.

Practice Highlights

Day to day counseling

He has developed strong relationships with content creators and distributors - from large media and tech companies to individual filmmakers and journalists. He counsels these clients on acquisition, development, production, distribution, and marketing issues, including chain of title and rights analyses, day-to-day production questions and clearances, newsgathering, and pre-broadcast and pre-publication review, and work closely with our colleagues who provide production legal and other entertainment-related services.

Litigation

He regularly defends clients in copyright, trademark, right of publicity, defamation, privacy, prior restraint, subpoena, and contract litigation in federal and state courts, in California and elsewhere.

Public access

Government transparency never has been more important. He has extensive experience helping media organizations gain access to court proceedings and records, and litigating California Public Records Act, Freedom of Information Act, and Brown Act disputes.

Copyright and Trademark

Right of Publicity

Idea Submission

Defamation and Invasion of Privacy

Prior Restraints

Other Litigation Experience

Development, Production, and Pre-broadcast Counseling, and Other IP Advice

Admitted to Practice

California, 1993
U.S. Supreme Court, 2005
U.S. Court of Appeals 9th Circuit, 2005
U.S. Court of Appeals 7th Circuit, 2011
U.S. Court of Appeals 5th Circuit, 2014
U.S. District Court Central District of California, 1994
U.S. District Court Southern District of California, 1999
U.S. District Court Eastern District of California, 2000
U.S. District Court Western District of Wisconsin, 2001
U.S. District Court Northern District of California, 2002
U.S. District Court Eastern District of Wisconsin, 2011

Education

J.D., University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, 1993
A.B., History, Harvard College, 1989, magna cum laude

Memberships & Affiliations

- Instructor, "Law of Mass Communications," Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California, Fall 2000-2007
- Founding Co-Chair, Media Law Resource Center, California Chapter
- Board of Trustees, Hollywood United Methodist Church
- ABA Forum on Communications Law

Professional Recognition

- Named "Lawyer of the Year" in First Amendment Law (Los Angeles), Best Lawyers, 2022
- Named as one of "America's Leading Lawyers for Business" by Chambers USA in First Amendment Litigation (Nationwide), 2022; Media & Entertainment: First Amendment Litigation (California), 2009-2022; Received "Band 1" ranking in Media & Entertainment: First Amendment Litigation (California), 2019-2022
- Received the "H. Stewart Tremaine Award for Exemplary Teamwork," Davis Wright Tremaine, 2018
- Named One of the "50 Top Entertainment Attorneys" by The Daily Journal, 2014-present
- Named as one of the "Top 75 Intellectual Property Litigators in California" by the Los Angeles Daily Journal, 2013-2014
- Named by the Hollywood Reporter as one of the "Top 100 Power Lawyers-Litigation," 2011-2017
- Named one of "America's Leading Lawyers for Business" in Media & Entertainment: Litigation (California) by Chambers USA, 2006-2018; Received "Band 1" ranking, 2012-2018
- Selected by Best Lawyers as Los Angeles' "Lawyer of the Year" in Litigation–First Amendment, 2013, 2018; Media Law, 2017
- Named one of the "Best Lawyers in America" in Media Law by Best Lawyers, 2007-present; in First Amendment Law, 2010-present; in Litigation - First Amendment Law, 2011-present; in Entertainment Law - Motion Pictures and Television, 2017-present; in Litigation - Intellectual Property Law, 2023
- Selected to "Southern California Super Lawyers" in Intellectual Property Litigation, Media and Advertising, Entertainment & Sports, Thomson Reuters, 2004-2023
- Named one of Lawdragon's "500 New Stars, New Worlds," 2006
- Named as one of California Law Business' "20 Under 40," 2000

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