Reflections on Loeb & Loeb’s 2024 IP/Entertainment CLE Conference in LA

Loeb & Loeb hosted its 15th annual IP/Entertainment Law CLE Conference in Los Angeles, tailored specifically for in-house legal professionals within the entertainment sector. Over 300 attorneys from motion picture studios, television networks, music labels, sports agencies, podcast production companies and various other media enterprises gathered on Oct. 30 for an engaging day of CLE panels. Loeb’s Los Angeles conference has served as a flagship event since it began in 2008, and the firm also organizes an annual conference in New York.

The conference kicked off with a morning panel featuring Scott Edel, chair of Loeb's Entertainment department; Melanie Breen, senior vice president of business affairs for TV and streaming at NBCUniversal; Zarin Khan Jaffe, senior vice president and head of business affairs for scripted TV at WME; and Lauren Miller, executive vice president and head of business affairs and operations at Sony Pictures Television, exploring the latest trends and addressing the evolving challenges of transactions in the TV industry.

The morning also included a session led by Advanced Media & Technology partner Nerissa Coyle McGinn and associate Lisa Wiznitzer, covering how actors, athletes, celebrities and even non-celebrities can protect their publicity rights in the era of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and deepfakes. The subsequent panel with Litigation partner Tal Dickstein; Professor Joe Bennett, a forensic musicologist at Joe Bennett Music Services; and Dan Butler, head of music, business and legal affairs at The Walt Disney Studios, delved into music copyright claims in film and TV, examining various copyright infringement cases to illustrate substantial similarity analysis and offer practical guidance.

After lunch, a panel featuring Loeb Litigation partners Frank D’Angelo, Safia Hussain and Don Miller, as well as Ashleigh Landis, vice president of legal, litigation at Warner Bros. Discovery, discussed recent developments in intellectual property and entertainment law. The panel addressed a range of cases, including those related to anti-SLAPP and idea theft claims, the statute of limitations for copyright infringement actions and copyright fair use, as well as a case involving image-generating AI tools. 

In a separate session, Employment & Labor partner Sarina Saluja; Gayle Goldman, vice president of employment law at NBCUniversal; Cindy Morgan, senior vice president of employment law at Paramount; and Karen Rindner, vice president of employment legal at Warner Bros. Discovery, outlined key employment law considerations for entertainment businesses, including upcoming changes to the California Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA), forthcoming updates to California loan-out company regulations, and recent developments in non-compete agreements.

The conference concluded with a final talk between David Grossman, co-chair of the Litigation department; Gabrielle Vidal, chair of the Guardianships practice and co-chair of the Trust & Estate Litigation practice; and Jeff Raymond, co-founder and president of 2PM Sharp, who addressed important factors when managing a high-profile legal matter alongside public perception.