Drawing the Line

Drawing the Line: 

Investigating Your Client’s Copyright Claims and Defenses

and Avoiding Ethical Pitfalls in Infringement Actions

This panel, which will provide an ethics credit, will explore the copyright attorney’s obligations under

Rule 11 and standards of professional conduct in connection with presenting and pursuing claims

and defenses for copyright infringement, and will review actual issues from relevant cases in the context

of fees and sanctions awards under the Copyright Act.

Panelists:

Scott J. Sholder is a partner in the Litigation Group at Cowan, DeBaets, Abrahams & Sheppard LLP.  Scott represents individuals and companies in the entertainment, traditional and digital media, sports, and consumer products industries.  His practice focuses on matters involving copyrights, trademarks, the right of publicity, and contractual and business disputes.  Scott also counsels and defends social media and online news and content providers in connection with defamation and false light claims as well as image licensing and other online copyright issues. Prior to joining Cowan, DeBaets, Scott was a litigation associate at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, and prior to entering private practice, he served as a law clerk to Hon. Leonard I. Garth, USCJ in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and Hon. Peter G. Sheridan, USDJ, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

Raymond J. Dowd is a member of Dunnington, Bartholow & Miller’s litigation and arbitration, intellectual property and art law and international practice areas. He has served as lead counsel in high-stakes, high-profile litigations and arbitrations in New York for over two decades. His book Copyright Litigation Handbook (Thomson Reuters/Westlaw) has received critical acclaim.  Mr. Dowd regularly represents television broadcasters in disputes relating to brand protection and content distribution in the United States, particularly antipiracy work. His ground-breaking litigation to recover artworks lost during World War II has gained amicus curiae support from Holocaust survivors and heirs.  Mr. Dowd represents individuals, corporations, non-profits and governments in a wide range of matters. Contested matters include copyright and trademark disputes, shareholder actions, business dissolutions, contract disputes, licensing disputes and contested audits or accounting proceedings, including bench and jury trials, arbitrations and administrative proceedings, emergency applications for injunctive relief, quashing subpoenas, obtaining, enforcing and collecting judgments.  Mr. Dowd also assists individuals, art owners, dealers and corporations with trademark and transactional work, including international licensing and distribution. He lectures regularly on art law and copyright law.  

Professor Beryl Jones-Woodin teaches copyright and art law, professional responsibility and international intellectual property at Brooklyn Law School. She is on the board of directors of the Westchester Children’s Museum. She is also a member of the editorial board of the Journal of the Copyright Society, a member of the American Law Institute, and the Federal Bar Council. She has also chaired the Association of American Law Schools’ Art Law Section and its Intellectual Property Section. She has long been active in New York City Bar on its committees for art law, communications and media law, and copyright law. Professor Jones-Woodin joined the faculty in 1984 after serving as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Civil Division of the Eastern District of New York, and law clerk to Judge A. Leon Higginbotham of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

CSUSA is a certified CLE provider in New York and Pennsylvania. Program will provide one NY and PA ethics credit.

Cancellation Policy

Refunds must be requested in writing at least three business days before the event. Refunds will not be issued after that point. Unfortunately, we will not be able to credit your registration payment toward a future event, but you may allow another person attend in your place. If possible, let us know that person’s name, affiliation and the city and state in which s/he works or lives so that we can make her/his name badge.

Financial Aid Policy

The Copyright Society of the USA provides a limited number of scholarships each year to judges, law clerks, law professors, law students, attorneys, and nonprofit organization employees. For information on how to apply, please click here.