The Ethics of Enforcing Your Copyright

About the Program

Recent enforcement efforts by entities such as Righthaven have raised a number of questions regarding ethics and professional responsibility as applied to the assertion of copyright infringement claims.  There are many reports that enforcing copyrights against numerous, sometimes small, alleged infringers has become quite a lucrative business model. At the same time, the creators making these claims are often those with less resources and a greater need for legal intervention.

Join us as a noted ethics expert, along with representatives of both the owner-creator and defense bars, uses hypothetical fact patterns to lead an interactive and engaging discussion among the panelists and the attendees on various ethics and moral issues that may arise in copyright litigation.

The Copyright Society of the USA is a New York State and Pennsylvania State CLE Approved Provider.
This course will provide 1 CLE Ethics credit.

SPEAKERS

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.

William Dunnegan is a partner in the New York City law firm of Dunnegan & Scileppi.  He concentrates in representing intellectual property owners in federal courts.  He has tried 22 federal cases, argued 18 federal appeals in six circuits, and argued in the United States Supreme Court.   Before starting his present firm, Bill was an associate at Cravath, Swaine & Moore, and Shea & Gould.  He graduated from Columbia Law School in 1980, where he was a Stone and a Kent Scholar.   

Nicole Hyland (Moderator) is a partner at Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz. She counsels lawyers on ethics issues, such as advertising and social media use, conflicts of interest, legal fee disputes, escrow issues, multijurisdictional law practice, and more. She also represents lawyers in disciplinary proceedings, disqualification motions and malpractice cases. Ms. Hyland serves on the New York State Bar Association’s Committee on Standards for Attorney Conduct (COSAC), which is responsible for drafting and proposing amendments to the New York Rules of Professional Conduct.  Since 2008, she has been a member of the Association of Professional Responsibility lawyers (APRL), a national organization of ethics and professional responsibility lawyers and she is co-chair of the Professional Ethics Committee of the New York Women’s Bar Association. Ms. Hyland is the immediate past Chair of the Committee on Professional Ethics of the New York City Bar Association, which provides guidance to New York State lawyers on a wide range of ethical issues, issues formal and informal written opinions, and operates the Ethics Hotline, a free resource for all New York state attorneys. Ms. Hyland frequently writes and lectures on legal ethics and professional responsibility issues. She is the co-author, along with Professor Roy Simon, of the 2015 and 2016 editions of Simon’s New York Rules of Professional Conduct Annotated and is currently working on the 2017 edition of that treatise.

COST

Members Early-bird $70, after deadline $80
Non-Members Early-bird $85, after deadline $95
Student Members Early-bird $55, after deadline $65*

*Must be a current member of the Copyright Society of the USA. Email rebecca@csusa.org for your promotional code.

Deadlines

Early-Bird: October 6, Midnight EDT
Final Registration Deadline: October 10, Midnight EDT

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.

New to the Copyright Society of the USA?
To learn about the benefits of membership, please visit www.csusa.org/join.

Already a member but need to renew for the 2016-2017 season? 
Please visit www.csusa.org/join and click renew. All memberships expire on September 30, 2016. If you have already renewed, thank you!