Andy Bart

Background

About Andy Bart

Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Andy Bart co-chairs Jenner & Block’s Content, Media & Entertainment Practice representing recording companies, motion picture studios and music publishers. He has secured precedent-setting decisions in copyright and trademark law, the law of privacy and publicity and entertainment contract issues. Career highlights: • Capitol Records v. MP3tunes: An eight-figure jury verdict in a copyright infringement case concerning the application of the DMCA to online music sites, marking the first time a jury disqualified a defendant from “safe harbor” protection due to “willful blindness” since the standard was set in Viacom v. YouTube. • UMG Recordings v. Escape Media: A copyright infringement decision finding Grooveshark and its founders responsible for its employees illegally uploading 5,977 songs, and ruling that the infringements were willful. Grooveshark was shut down and a significant judgment entered. • Fifty-Six Hope Road Music v. UMG Recordings: Securing dismissal of a claim brought by the heirs of Bob Marley who claimed ownership of the renewal copyrights in some of Marley’s famous sound recordings. • Panama Music v. Universal Music: A decision involving royalty calculations on income from digital downloads, ringtones and streaming. The court ruled that royalties on income from all these exploitations should be calculated under the contractual terms applicable to royalties on record sales. • UMG Recordings v. Escape Media: A precedent-setting result holding that the safe harbors in the federal Copyright Act do not limit state law protection for “pre-1972” sound recordings. • Greenfield v. Philles Records: A seminal decision confirming the unfettered right of recording companies to exploit performances they own pursuant to recording agreements and confirming that their only royalty obligations were those provided in the agreements.