Media and Entertainment
Go-to firm for high-stakes litigation in the entertainment industry
We help film and television studios, record labels, content creators and social media platforms handle their highest-profile matters, defending the intellectual property behind blockbuster franchises, obtaining multi-million-dollar verdicts and settlements against infringers, handling sensitive internal investigations, guiding billion-dollar mergers through challenging antitrust reviews and addressing new issues regarding NFTs and copyright termination. Ranked in Band 1 for Media and Entertainment – California by Chambers USA, and listed as a Law360 Practice Group of the Year, Munger, Tolles & Olson’s Media and Entertainment practice has set and defended precedents that have shaped the entertainment industry.
Services
Our broad-ranging Media and Entertainment practice includes the following areas:
Copyright and Intellectual Property
- Mass piracy
- Copyright infringement
- Licensing and Distribution
Antitrust
Matters
- Monopolization
- Restraint of Trade
- Anticompetitive Agreements
Licensing and Participation
- Affiliated Dealing
- Audit Disputes
- Streaming Services
Internal Matters and Business Disputes
- Internal Investigations
- Class Actions
- Product Counseling
Clients
We represent media and entertainment leaders who trust both our advice and our effectiveness in litigation, including:
- A + E Studios
- Disney
- Fox Broadcasting
- Marvel Studios
- NBCUniversal
- Recording Industry Assoc. of America
- Sony Pictures
- Warner Music Group
- Activision Blizzard
- ESPN
- Hulu
- Motion Picture Association
- Netflix
- Snap
- Universal Music Group
- CAA
- Fox
- Lucasfilm
- National Geographic
- Paramount
- Sony Music Entertainment
- Warner Bros. Discovery
Related Practices
Our nationally ranked attorneys have addressed a wide range of challenges for entertainment and media clients, including:
Team
Experience
Our representations include:
- Publishers, film studios and television productions against claims of copyright infringement for ideas and characters.
- Film studios in defending against claims of copyright infringement from a vendor’s unlicensed use of motion-capture software.
- Motion picture studios in sensitive matters regarding potential termination of copyright transfer issues underlying major franchises.
- A film studio in favorably settling claims that the basic elements of genre movies can be copyrighted.
- The music industry in litigation to make stream-ripping services illegal.
- Film and television studios in successful battles against illegal streaming services, winning injunctions, asset seizures and millions in damages.
- A streaming service in legal action over the commercialization of fan-created content derived from a hit show.
- A streaming service in dismissing a wrongful death class action related to the content of a series.
- A streaming service against allegations that dubbing a foreign-language film in English infringed the copyright of an original English-language version of the film.
- A streaming service in dismissing a $1 billion copyright infringement suit against a popular series
- A film studio in dismissing a consumer class action over an actor appearing briefly in a trailer but not in the film.
- A film studio navigating recently relaxed Department of Justice rules on owning chains of movie theaters.
Contact
News
Munger, Tolles & Olson Receives 51 Rankings in the 2025 Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms” Guide
Kelly Klaus Named to the 2024 Power Lawyers List by The Hollywood Reporter
