Prior Art: Is it Relevant?
“Prior Art” a common feature of patent law, is increasingly being brought up in copyright cases. Join us for 1.5 MCLE credit hours of exciting discussion on new infringement cases and IP dispute involving prior art!
Thursday, October 24th, 2024, from 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm PST.
Join panelists Corey Field (attorney and author), Scott Burroughs (litigation attorney), and Judith Finell (musicologist), along with moderator Steven T. Lowe (NSEAL Chairman), on Zoom for 1.5 hours of engaging panel discussion!
Registration fees are $45. Use code “MEMBER10” or “STUDENT10” FOR $10 off. For more inquiries about the event, please reach out to: memberships@nseal.org
Why Attend?
The “Prior Art” Legal Education Panel is an unparalleled opportunity to gain insights from leading experts in the entertainment field. This event will provide valuable perspectives on current trends in the world of copyright, and participants also may engage in a Q&A session!
Event Details
Attendees can expect to hear thought-provoking discussions on topics including a history of the “Prior Art” doctrine in patent and copyright law, recent infringement cases involving “Prior Art”, and analysis by Scott Burroughs, co-author of recent law review article entitled “Consider The Grecian Urn: Why Prior Art has No Place in Analyzing Substantial Similarity Under The Copyright Act”, and Judith Finell, a prominent musicologists, who confronts prior art head-on in music infringement cases.
Date: October 24th, 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm PST
Venue: Zoom
The Panel will include the following distinguished entertainment law experts:
Corey Field, lead attorney at Corey Field Law Group, P.C
Scott Burroughs of Doniger/Burroughs
Judith Finell, musicologist and president of music consulting firm Judith Finell Music Services Inc.
Steven T. Lowe of Lowe & Associates, and current president of National Society of Entertainment and Arts Lawyers (NSEAL) will serve as moderator.
Speaker Biographies
Steven T. Lowe
With more than 30 years of experience in Intellectual Property (“IP”), business, and entertainment law, Steven T. Lowe has distinguished himself as a preeminent attorney in copyright law and championing the rights of creators in the entertainment industry, Mr. Lowe and the firm, Lowe & Associates (the “Firm”), continue to prosecute and successfully resolve many important entertainment and copyright cases. Mr. Lowe has authored multiple published articles and been a panelist and moderator on many Minimum Continuing Legal Education panels. He has been selected as a “Super Lawyer” by Thomson Reuters, from 2009 to the present, signifying he is in the top 5% of the lawyers in California. He has also been rated “A-V preeminent” by Martindale-Hubbell since 1998. An “A-V rating” signifies the highest competence and ethics in the profession. Mr. Lowe was co-author of the recent law review article "Considering the Grecian Urn: Why Prior Art Has No Place in Analyzing Substantial Similarity Under the Copyright Act," Chicago-Kent Journal of Intellectual Property (2024).
Mr. Lowe is also a founding member, and current President, of the National Society of Entertainment and Art Lawyers (“NSEAL”), formerly the California Society of Entertainment Lawyers (“CSEL”) (formed in 2013), a not-for-profit organization of attorneys dedicated to artists’ rights. NSEAL has filed amicus briefs in numerous cases before the Ninth (and other) circuits, and the U.S. Supreme Court, many of which have resulted in decisions favorable to creative professionals, including the following: Warner Chappell v. Sherman Nealy (2024), Andy Warhol Found. for the Visual Arts, Inc. v. Goldsmith (2023), Unicolors, Inc. v. H&M Hennes & Mauritz, L.P. (2021), and Gregorini v. Apple, Inc. (2022).
Scott Burroughs
Mr. Burroughs was selected as a California Rising Star for the years 2015-2019 by Los Angeles Magazine and Super Lawyers. Since transitioning to oversee the firm’s New York office, he has been selected as a New York Super Lawyer for the years 2021-2024. He has also been selected as a Billboard Top Music Lawyer for 2024. He has handled thousands of art and entertainment disputes, obtaining numerous six and seven-figure results for his clients and succeeding on appeal before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court, creating new precedent on important, cuttingedge copyright issues. Mr. Burroughs is passionate about protecting the rights of artists and content creators, and writes and speaks often on the subject. He has lectured for California Lawyers for the Arts, the Fashion Business Institute, the Loyola Law School Fashion Symposium, and the University of Southern California Law School, and written articles for the Daily Journal, Bloomberg News, and others. He also taught Fashion Law at the Art Institute of California, and writes a copyright law column for leading legal website Above the Law: https://abovethelaw.com/author/scottalanburroughs/
Corey Field
Corey Field is a renowned attorney who specializes in entertainment, media, copyright, and trademark law. He has been selected as a California Super Lawyer for the years 2016-2025, and was the former president of The Copyright Society of the U.S.A. Mr. Field is the author of the legal practice guide and textbook "Entertainment Law: Fundamentals and Practice" and has taught law students as an Adjunct Professor at the USC Gould School of Law. Mr. Field also serves as Outside Legal Counsel for the Sundance Institute and Sundance Film Festival. Prior to becoming an attorney, Corey worked as an executive in the international music publishing industry and served on the board of the Music Publishers Association of the United States. He currently serves on the boards of The BMI Foundation, Classical Radio KUSC, and The Kurt Weill Foundation for Music. Corey formerly practiced at a large national law firm based on the East Coast and in Los Angeles and then founded Corey Field Law Group, P.C. He holds a BA in Music from UC Santa Barbara, a PhD in music from the University of York, England, and attended Delaware School of Law where he was on law review. He is a member of the California, New York, and Pennsylvania bars. As a law student, Corey was the recipient of the Grand Prize in the 2000 Grammy® Entertainment Law Initiative for a paper on entertainment law.
Judith Finell
Judith Finell is a musicologist and has served as an expert witness and consultant in many milestone music copyright disputes throughout the U.S. and abroad. She joined the UCLA faculty in 2019, and teaches the only course on forensic musicology in the country with attorney Don Franzen. She also advises film, television, advertising, media and tech companies on a wide variety of music topics, including digital sampling, music rights, infringement, and public domain – and has been the music supervisor on musical selections for films and television productions. In addition to testifying in many notable copyright trials over the past two decades, she was the testifying expert for the winning Marvin Gaye estate against Pharrell Williams in the “Blurred Lines” trial in Federal District Court, and also before the Copyright Royalty Board on behalf of the National Music Publishers Association regarding ringtones. She presides over Judith Finell Music Services, a music consulting firm in Los Angeles and New York with a team of musicologists advising attorneys and their clients on music copyright issues. Her firm has advised Disney, Sony Pictures, Universal Music, HBO, Amazon Studios, Apple, and Warner Brothers. Judith is a frequent speaker on topics involving AI-created music, music copyright protection issues, and the intersection of music, technology and the law. Most recently, Judith has been invited to give a Ted talk on AI and musical creativity, as well as before the International Bar Association, the American Intellectual Property Law Association, the Copyright Society, and at universities including the law schools of Harvard, Cornell, Yale, Columbia, University of California, Berkeley, and Stanford, among others.
Sign Up for Prior Art: Is It Relevant?
Sign Up for Prior Art: Is It Relevant?
Thursday, October 24th, 2024, from 12:00 – 1:30 P.M. (PST).