Eleanor M. Lackman

Eleanor M. Lackman, Co-Chair of MSK’s Intellectual Property practice group, is a nationally recognized lawyer for copyright, trademark, and media matters. For over 20 years, Eleanor has litigated cases from inception through trial in courts across the country, while counseling copyright and brand owners from creation through protection, licensing, and beyond. Her dedication to her clients’ success has resulted in recognitions from industry trades such as Variety and Billboard and elite legal reviews including Managing IP, World Trademark Review, and Chambers Global and USA, which has recognized her 10 years running and in “Band 1” multiple years in a row for her practicality, creativity, and client service.

A recent recipient of a Master in Business Administration degree with a certificate in entertainment, media, and sports, Eleanor also deeply understands the value that lawyers provide to the business and knows what questions to ask in order to ensure that the client’s business goals are at the forefront of her legal strategy. She is a true business and legal advisor who earns trust from legal departments and business teams alike.

Eleanor is particularly known for her depth in media, entertainment, and technology. She has been at the helm of widely impactful copyright and trademark cases in those industries, including the landmark co-authorship case 16 Casa Duse v. Merkin, the leading de minimis use case Gottlieb Dev. LLC v. Paramount Pictures Corp., and Yang v. Mic Network, a fair use decision that the Freedom of the Press Foundation lauded as “a victory for media reporting.” Eleanor has procured successful outcomes for major digital media companies, record labels and music publishers, famous authors and recording artists, performing rights organizations, and well-known game companies, news and lifestyle content publishers, motion picture and television studios and distributors, sports leagues and teams, esports organizations, influencer and NIL marketing agencies, and other enterprises in the media and entertainment industries. Major industry players routinely call on her to draft amicus briefs in the most closely watched copyright and trademark cases in the country.

Eleanor’s significant depth at the intersection of IP and technology has included a wide variety of counseling and enforcement for e-commerce and software companies; procuring a summary judgment ruling centered on the contours of the DMCA; serving as counsel in Cartoon Network v. CSC Holdings (a/k/a “Cablevision”) and Tiffany v. eBay; and drafting amicus briefs in Oracle v. Google, WNET v. Aereo, Authors Guild v. Google, Capitol Records v. ReDigi, and Viacom v. YouTube, among others. Over the years, she has counseled numerous clients on matters relating to artificial intelligence, retransmission technologies, deepfakes, linking and embedding, online advertising and regulation, Section 230 issues, and other aspects of copyright, trademark, and related laws that intersect with technological developments.

Due to her demonstrated passion for the law, Eleanor has become known as a devoted advocate for clients’ IP issues across a wide array of industries beyond media, entertainment, and technology. Her work includes handling over 100 cases at the TTAB and counseling on thousands of trademark records for clients in industries including not just e-commerce, telecom, AI, IoT, software, media, entertainment, and sports, but financial services, real estate, restaurants, food and beverage, fashion and beauty, toys and games, travel and leisure, and beyond. She has held leadership positions with the Copyright Society, INTA, Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, and Fordham’s Center on Law and Information Policy. In addition to being a frequent speaker for organizations ranging from SXSW to PLI, Eleanor’s publications include continuously updated practice notes on copyright and trademark injunctive relief for Practical Law Company.