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Currently, only one active patent case involves movie studios. In June, an obscure company called Digital Dailies & Previews sued 15 film companies, including Columbia Pictures, MGM and Twentieth Century Fox, for infringing on its patent covering a method of editing motion pictures in high-definition video for previews.
Feeman says more suits of this nature will be filed.
“A lot of the work is still going to traditional entertainment law firms, but we are counting on the fact that as patent litigation increases in this area, more people will start seeing the benefit of hiring law firms with strong IP practices,” she said.
There has been a noticeable shift in the way studios farm out their litigation, as cases have become increasingly high-tech, according to Feeman. Orrick, for example, recently represented Universal Studios’ amusement park division in a patent dispute over an amusement park ride. The firm was hired because of its patent trial experience, Feeman said.
One firm that has so far successfully leveraged its IP practice in the digital media realm is Weil, Gotshal & Manges. The firm is among the first to combine its IP litigation practice with its media practice and has attracted clients from both technology and entertainment industries.
The firm’s specialty, according to Weil partner Kenneth Steinthal in San Francisco, is addressing various “convergence” issues as they apply to new technologies.
Steinthal, co-chairman of the firm’s IP/media practice, represents AOL, Microsoft and Yahoo before the U.S. Copyright Office in the ongoing litigation over royalties for Internet music-streaming. He is also representing German media conglomerate Bertelsmann AG in copyright infringement lawsuits, and several cable and satellite television channels, including the Disney Channel, the Discovery Channel and ESPN, in disputes over music royalties.
The group has also generated a number of patent litigation cases for clients such as Sony, Apple and Yahoo.
“We don’t see ourselves as entertainment lawyers,” Steinthal said. “Entertainment law to me connotes negotiating contracts for artists. Our practice is much more focused on the major media companies, and because we have established ourselves in all areas of IP, many of our media clients are now relying on us to represent them in all IP cases, may it be copyright, trademark or patent litigation.”
Steinthal said Weil’s media practice has over the years generated a substantial amount of litigation, and he believes it will continue to be a huge source of business for the firm.
“You’re going to see a lot more litigation in this area and we have positioned ourselves as experts in all areas of convergence,” Steinthal said.
DOING BUSINESS
Although litigation is still the main reason law firms are flocking into the digital media space, firms such as Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati are making big money focusing on the transactional side of the digital media business.
The growing collaboration between entertainment companies and technology firms has generated a considerable amount of complex licensing and counseling work, according to Wilson partner Catherine Kirkman.
“The convergence of technology and content has transformed a lot of businesses in Silicon Valley,” Kirkman said. “Nowadays, if you are a tech company and you don’t have content, you’re missing out in a very important market.”
The same applies to entertainment companies, she said. Anyone in Hollywood who has content to sell is now looking to Silicon Valley for innovative technology to help distribute its products.
The resulting deals require lawyers who know technology. Kirkman, who used to work as an entertainment lawyer at Loeb & Loeb in Los Angeles, said Wilson attorneys fashion themselves as entertainment, media and technology lawyers.
“Many of the deals in this area require a deep understanding of technology and intellectual property issues,” Kirkman said, pointing to digital rights management � anti-copying technology � as such an issue. “You don’t do a media licensing deal, for example, without talking about what kind of DRM technology you’re going to use to license your content.”
Kirkman often helps clients structure licensing deals and helps both entertainment and technology clients develop business models.
The transformation of many technology and Internet companies into multimedia distribution centers has created a frenzy of business activity in the Valley. Techies even have a moniker for the economic revival in the dot-com space, Kirkman said. They call it Web 2.0.
“It is really exciting how many new startups are popping up and how many large companies are getting into this area,” Kirkman said. “Digital media is such an important area for us right now because that’s what many of our clients are focusing on. If you’re not in this space right now, you’re out.”
