Leo Lichtman

Leo concentrates his practice in entertainment, intellectual property, and commercial law, having extensive experience handling complex disputes across a variety of industries, including music, film and television, technology and software, publishing, gaming, sports, and healthcare. He has particular expertise navigating issues at the forefront of content, media, and technology, having worked on a number of high-profile cases at the cutting edge of copyright law, and has been recognized as a Super Lawyers® Rising Star in 2021, 2022, and 2023. Leo is also involved in the American Bar Association Section of Intellectual Property Law, and currently co-chairs the music litigation subcommittee.

Prior to joining One LLP, Leo practiced at two nationally-recognized intellectual property firms.

Illustrative Experience

• Member of trial team that secured record-setting $6.3 million jury verdict in copyright infringement case involving the willful infringement of photographs.
• Represented well-known artist in claims against the City of Los Angeles under the Visual Artists Rights Act (VARA), due to the destruction of his art installation. Secured favorable holdings on summary judgment recognizing that the installation was protected under VARA. Case settled shortly thereafter.
• Defended start-up e-commerce company that was sued for alleged trademark infringement by a personal care company over the shared use of the word “Love” in branding. Opposed motion for preliminary injunction and settled shortly thereafter.
• Defending music producer who was sued in Louisiana over an allegedly infringing hip-hop beat. Successfully obtained dismissal of action over lack of jurisdiction.
• Assist content creators and producers in connection with the protection and enforcement of their copyright rights.
• Represented estate of preeminent trial lawyer and co-author of iconic legal treatises in royalty dispute with publisher of the treatises.
• Defend and advise clients in matters involving alleged accessibility issues with their websites under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and related state laws.
• Defended major music group in trademark infringement lawsuit involving an allegedly similar band name. Secured an order dismissing the case with prejudice.*
• Defended major streaming company and film directors and producers in copyright infringement suit arising from the use of archival footage to create an Emmy-award winning documentary.*
• Defended major hip-hop artist, label, and music publishers in copyright infringement lawsuit involving the interpolation of 35 seconds from a 1-minute spoken word track. Obtained a favorable summary judgment ruling that defendants engaged in a fair use, which was affirmed by the Second Circuit in one of the only fair use opinions issued by an appellate court involving music and transformative use. In same case, represented hip-hop artist in counterclaims involving violations of his right of publicity and false endorsement, which settled shortly before trial.*
• Defended major recording artists and producers, labels, and music publishers, in copyright infringement lawsuit involving allegedly unlicensed sampling of guitar riff. Obtained dismissal on basis that the plaintiff failed to plausibly allege substantial similarity in opinion which reinforced the pleading standards for copyright infringement. Continued to represent defendants in follow-on case brought by the same plaintiff, which was dismissed on summary judgment.*
• Represented creators of iconic baseball mascot in dispute with major sports franchise over the rights to the mascot, which involved numerous novel questions regarding copyright termination, authorship, the scope of character copyrights, originality of derivative works, and the interplay between copyright and trademark rights.*
• Brought high-profile copyright infringement lawsuit on behalf of major and independent music publishers against large online game creation platform which allowed users to upload and share unlicensed music in user-created games. Case settled shortly thereafter.*

• On behalf of major pop group, brought copyright infringement lawsuit against food delivery company that was using an unlicensed knock-off of their hit song in commercials. Obtained settlement shortly thereafter.*
• Advised non-profit healthcare company with respect to the enforcement of its copyrighted designs and trade dress, securing a settlement and negotiating a prospective license going forward with infringer.*
• Defended numerous online media publications in copyright infringement lawsuits involving the alleged infringement of photographs.*
• Represented champion boxer in dispute with former managers, filing a lawsuit on his behalf seeking, among other things, unjust enrichment, breach of fiduciary duty, and a judicial declaration that the alleged management contract being asserted by his managers was unenforceable due to numerous violations of state boxing regulations.*
• Represented major record labels and music publishers in precedent-setting lawsuits against major internet service providers who turned a blind eye to subscribers that were repeatedly pirating music.*

• Represented major educational publishers in connection with numerous copyright and trademark enforcement initiatives involving websites devoted to the sale of pirated test banks and instructor solutions manuals, online platforms that were hosting and displaying unauthorized digital copies of textbooks, and suppliers of physical counterfeits.*

• Represented major trade associations in royalty distribution proceedings under 17 U.S.C. §§ 111 and 119 before the Copyright Claims Board.*

• Represented owner of iconic arcade game in trademark licensing dispute against limited licensee who brought violations for breach of contract and tortious interference. Vigorously defended against the allegations, and brought counterclaims for breach of contract and trademark infringement on behalf of client on the basis that the licensee was using the trademarks outside the scope of the license.*

*Denotes experience prior to joining One LLP

Bar Admissions

• California
• New York
• Washington, D.C.
• U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
• U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
• U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit