DWT LLP | Practice Areas: Media Lawyers

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.

In the News


Bob Corn-Revere testifies on the issue of the universal service obligation of the U.S. Postal Service and the postal monopoly DWT's Bob Corn-Revere testified before The Postal Regulatory Commission at a public hearing on Thursday, July 10, 2008, at 10 a.m. on the issue of the universal service obligation of the U.S. Postal Service and the postal monopoly. The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 (PAEA) requires the Commission to report to the President and Congress by December 19, 2008, on universal postal service and the postal monopoly in the United States, including the monopoly on mail delivery and access to mailboxes.

	*Should Violent Video Games Be Regulated?* DWT's Robert Corn-Revere argues that the government should not be regulating video games or other forms of new media on Minnesota Public Radio.

First Amendment Law Letter (FALL)

First Amendment Law Letter [Winter 2008]

In this issue:

previous editions of FALL

News & Bulletins

3rd Circuit Invalidates Child Online Protection Act
[July 2008] read bulletin

3rd Circuit Rejects FCC's “Fleeting Images” Policy, Reverses Super Bowl Fine [July 2008] read bulletin

FCC Initiates Embedded Advertising and Sponsorship Identification Rulemaking Proceeding [July 2008] read bulletin

An Unlikely Champion for the First Amendment
Published by Yakima Herald-Republic read article

Washington Court of Appeals Strikes Down State's Criminal Libel Statute [June 2008] read bulletin

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.

3rd Circuit Judges Grill DOJ Attorney in CBS 'Wardrobe Malfunction' Case
Law.com - September 12, 2007
Court Hears CBS, FCC Vews of Janet Jackson's '04 Super Bowl Show
Associated Press - September 11, 2007
FCC, CBS Argue Indecency
Hollywood Reporter - September 12, 2007

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

The Cycles of Applying the Law Online
By Lance Koonce
Published by New York Law Journal [June 30, 2008]

Paul Glist will be a featured panelist on “What's Going on in Washington – Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid” affecting the cable television and telecommunications industry at the CableLabs Smaller Market Conference, August 10, 2008, in Keystone, Colorado

Paul Glist presented on current regulatory and technology issues affecting the cable television and telecommunications industry as part of the Washington Update Panel at the New England Cable & Telecommunications Association, July 17, 2008, in Newport, Rhode Island

K.C. Halm presented on the topic of Intercarrier Compensation Issues Before the FCC and Implications for Voice Peering at the Voice Peering Forum, Summer 2008

K.C. Halm presented on the topic of The Impact of Changing Regulations and Technology on an Organization's Privacy and Data Protection Policies, with Greg Kopta at The International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP), October, 2007

K.C. Halm presented on the topic of Transborder Data Flow: Implications of the Patriot Act for Canadians at the American Bar Association 2007 YLD Meeting, Montreal, Canada, May 4, 2007

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

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
James Grant
Bruce E. Johnson
Michael J. Killeen
Gregory J. Kopta
Noelle H. Kvasnosky
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
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

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

Return to top of page