CDAS congratulates clients of Marc H. Simon whose projects CDAS represents and which have been widely recognized and honored this year. Sundance Grand Jury winner Winter’s Bone directed by Debra Granik and produced with Anne Rosellini and Alix Madigan-Yorkin has been met with critical raves from the NY Times and critics across the country, as well as box office success, and features the star-making performance by its young lead Jennifer Lawrence.

Lisa Cholodenki’s The Kids Are All Right, which was the center of Sundance’s “most visible bidding war”, is enjoying glowing reviews and success across the country. Both Winter’s Bone and The Kids Are All Right have been nominated for the Humanitas Prize.

Julianne Moore, star of The Kids Are All Right, children’s book Freckleface Strawberry has been adapted into a musical by client Rose Caiola and is heading to the stage this fall.

Client Jennifer Grausman’s documentary Pressure Cooker has received a daytime Emmy nomination.

Client Stacey Blume and her "Blume Forever" successfully attained recognition of her distinctive namepatch.

We welcome Robert J. Epstein who joins our firm as Special Counsel. Mr. Epstein represents a diverse clientele in the entertainment field. Clients include recording artists, songwriters, performers and producers, as well as corporate entities such as media companies and music publishers. Before entering private practice, Mr. Epstein was with the Business Affairs Department of CBS News and in the Legal Department of ABC. Mr. Epstein was a partner in Epstein, Levinsohn & Weinstein from its inception until 1997 when the firm merged with Susan Bodine and Andrew Hurwitz's firm to form Epstein, Levinsohn, Bodine, Hurwitz & Weinstein, LLP. He also serves as General Counsel of The Songwriter's Hall of Fame, and on the boards of foundations and charities.

Cowan, DeBaets, Abrahams & Sheppard LLP is proud of its clients' achievements at the 26th Sundance Film Festival this past January.

On behalf of A&E Films, Susan H. Bodine provided distribution legal services for The Tillman Story, which was sold to The Weinstein Company for theatrical distribution. In addition, Ms. Bodine brokered the sale to HBO of the José Padilha directed Secrets of the Tribe, which had its world premiere in the World Cinema Documentary Competition category.

On behalf of Winter’s Bone, the Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner, directed by Debra Granik and produced by Anne Rosellini and Alix Madigan of Anonymous Content, Marc H. Simon negotiated deals with Fortissimo Films for foreign distribution and Roadside Attractions for domestic rights. In addition, Mr. Simon is representing Adam Schlesinger and Linda Saffire, producers of Smash His Camera, directed by Leon Gast, who was awarded Best Director in the Documentary category, in its domestic sale. Mr. Simon was also production and finance counsel for The Kids Are Alright, directed by Lisa Cholodenko and produced by Celine Rattray, which procured the top sale (to Focus Features) at Sundance this past year.

Robert L. Seigel represented the writer of the screenplay adaptation of Twelve, which was honored as part of the closing night ceremonies.  Additionally, Mr. Seigel provided production counsel services on Memories of Overdevelopment and represented the producer of 3 Backyards, directed by Eric Mendelsohn, which received the Best Director Award for a dramatic movie.

Andrea F. Cannistraci, Frederick P. Bimbler and Hayden M. Goldblatt provided valuable assistance with several of the above deals.

We welcome Joshua B. Sessler who joins our firm as Of Counsel. Josh brings over eight years of law practice experience in the areas of intellectual property rights protection and licensing, technology and internet law, and general corporate matters. Josh worked as both outside and in house counsel and has been active in "new media" since the late 1990's. His practice currently focuses on media and design firms, international and domestic trademarks, and advising early-stage companies with respect to financing, structuring and intellectual property matters.

CDAS congratulates Marc H. Simon's client "Gossip Cop" on its launch which was covered today on Good Morning America.

Jean Albert and Michael Bracken have joined Cowan DeBaets Abrahams and Sheppard in 2009. Jean Albert’s practice focuses on general corporate law, IP, competition and international law. He advises companies, governments and NGOs on transactions that involve international legal issues. He has experience in over 90 countries assisting clients in international joint ventures, partnerships, acquisitions and the expansion of their activities abroad. Michael Bracken practices primarily in the area of transactional entertainment law, focusing on media, live events and sports and representing cable networks, television and event producers, team owners, website developers, digital media distributors, and providers of technical services.

We congratulate CDAS partner Marc H. Simon on the release of his documentary “Nursery University” which has its NY premiere Friday, April 24, 2009 at the ImaginAsian theater (239 E. 59th between 2nd and 3rd Avenue). Set in New York City, the epicenter of a phenomenon cropping up in communities across the United States, “Nursery University” provides a good-humored look at the oddly competitive environment of nursery school admissions. The film tells the story of five families — each with different background and economic circumstances — attempting to place their toddlers in pre-school classrooms with limited space and high price tags. Enjoy the insanity in this sweeter look at the social issues, and the little darlings at the center of all the fuss.

Date: March 13, 2009
Place: Columbia Law School, Kernochan Center, 435 West 116th Street (at the corner of Amsterdam Ave.)

To register for the event and for more information, please visit the Kernochan Center’s website.

Google, authors and publishers recently entered into a settlement agreement in The Authors Guild et al. v. Google Inc., a class action lawsuit brought against Google in connection with its use of copyrighted books in its Book Search feature, and in The McGraw-Hill Companies et al. v. Google Inc., a separate lawsuit by publishers. The settlement, if approved by the court, will provide new opportunities for authors and publishers to market their works. It will also enhance the public’s ability to search for books and to get partial text displays (and, in the case of many older works, full text displays) at home, at school, and in libraries. At the same time, the settlement has potentially significant implications for copyright law, competition, research and scholarship. Cowan, DeBaets, Abrahams & Sheppard is proud to sponsor a symposium on these important issues.

CDAS congratulates our client Maureen Ryan of Hands On Productions. The documentary she produced, “Man On a Wire”, directed by James Marsh won the Academy Award for Best Documentary.

CDAS welcomes Marc H. Simon who joins the firm as a partner. Mr. Simon, an experienced entertainment attorney, represents film and television companies, producers, directors, writers and talent. He has served as production counsel on numerous films, handled complex negotiating and transactional matters on behalf of his diverse clientele, and has functioned as a producer's sales representative. Mr. Simon advises clients on financing, intellectual property acquisitions, all above-the-line agreements, co-production and distribution agreements. He also has experience in all areas of commercial litigation, including securities, employment, real property and entertainment matters. Mr. Simon’s practice is uniquely informed by his personal experience as an award-winning film producer and director of the feature documentary films “After Innocence” and “Nursery University”.

CDAS proudly announces the addition of M. Kilburg Reedy as partner. Ms. Reedy is a transactional attorney who practices in all aspects of general entertainment law and intellectual property, including publishing, film, television, copyright, trademark, and music, with a focus on theater-related transactions and financing. Ms. Reedy joined Cowan DeBaets Abrahams & Sheppard in July 2006 as an associate.

Gary Redente and Christopher Marino have joined the Cowan DeBaets Abrahams and Sheppard team in 2008. Gary is an entertainment, intellectual property, and business lawyer, with experience in both transactional and litigation matters. Christopher is a Litigation Associate practicing primarily in the areas of copyright, trademark and commercial litigation.

Steven M. Weinberg has also joined CDAS in 2008. Steve Weinberg, of our West Coast office, is a leading litigator and transactional lawyer in the areas of branding and trademarks; brand, content and celebrity licensing, sponsorship and endorsements; copyrights and digital rights; employment and trade secret issues; publishing; software and online technology deals and licensing; domain name protection and enforcement; IP and digital rights management; and direct response, advertising and promotion in all media.

Robert Seigel moderated a well-attended panel at the 2008 Woodstock Film Festival pertaining to the topic of Current Trends in Independent Filmmaking which addressed technological, business and financial issues which a producer confronts today on a motion picture feature.

Bob Seigel also was a panelist regarding the development and packaging of independent films during the Independent Film Project's Filmmakers Conference during the September 2008 IFP Market.

Robert Freedman’s clients Robert Bahar and Almudena Carracedo have won the Emmy Award for the Best Feature Documentary. Their film, "Made in LA" is the story of three immigrant Hispanic workers in Los Angeles and their fight for recognition and dignity.

And the FX television series "Damages", created and written by Roger Kass' clients Todd A. Kessler and Glenn Kessler, was honored — Glenn Close won the Emmy for Best Actress in a Drama Series, Zjelko Ivanek won for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, and the series won Best Casting for a Drama Series.

Mitchell Radin was a member of the Faculty for the Franklin Pierce Law Center Annual Advanced Licensing Institute in January 2008. He taught intellectual property professionals, technology managers, and law students from around the world on issues of trademark licensing.

Steven M. Weinberg has been selected for inclusion in the 2009 edition of The Best Lawyers in America® in the specialty of Intellectual Property Law. Robert I. Freedman and David B. Wolf have been selected as “New York Super Lawyers” for 2007 and 2008 for the New York Super Lawyers – Metro Edition. Toby M. Butterfield has been selected as “New York Super Lawyers” for 2008 for the New York Super Lawyers – Metro Edition.

Robert Seigel provided legal services or represented one of the producers for the following narrative features: "Alphabet Killer," directed by Rob Schmidt and starring Eliza Dushku, Timothy Hutton and Cary Elwes with domestic rights acquired by Anchor Bay; "Wendy and Lucy," directed by Kelli Reichert with Oscilloscope Pictures as domestic distributor; and "Dream Boy," directed by James Bolton with U.S. rights acquired by Regent Entertainment.

Bob Seigel served as Production Counsel on the following documentaries which were theatrically released by First Run Features: "Jihad for Love" which addresses gay Muslims which was directed by Parvez Sharma and produced by Sandi Dubowski and "Moving Midway" directed by Godfrey Cheshire and chronicles his family's movement of his family's ancestral home in North Carolina.

The documentary "Lioness" concerning the first women soldiers in U.S. history who were sent in direct combat, aired on PBS' "Independent Lens" series. The documentary's production company, Room 11 Productions, was represented by Bob Seigel.

Litigation partner Toby Butterfield will be moderating discussions on publication issues at the Media Law Conference on September 17-19, 2008 in Crystal City, VA. This prominent bi-annual conference is organized jointly by MLRC (Media Law Resource Center), the prominent media lawyers organization, the Newspaper Association of America and the National Association of Broadcasters. For more information see: www.medialaw.org. Toby will also be lecturing at the Practicing Law Institute in New York City on September 3, 2008 on Technology and Entertainment Convergence: Business and Legal Issues for the Next Stage of “Technotainment”. Click here for more information or to subscribe.