
The New York State Bar Association’s Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law Section welcomes Section members and visitors. EASL Section’s more than 1,700 members represent varied interests, including some of the sexiest issues grabbing headlines being debated in Congress and being heard by the courts. The EASL Section provides substantive case law, forums for discussion and debate and information-sharing in the EASL e-community.
The section has a large, active and diverse membership, with lawyers occupying every corner of the entertainment, art and sports law fields, at every level, from law students and first-year attorneys to senior partners at leading national and international firms and senior legal and business affairs executives at multinational media corporations. While the majority of our members are located in New York City and around the state, we also have members in 28 other states and 20 countries, notably in Canada, China, most European countries and the UK, Japan, Korea and throughout the Pacific Rim.
The section is comprised of 28 committees, chaired by the members of the Executive Committee—all leading entertainment, art and sports law practitioners—and each committee hosts frequent, outstanding, and frequently oversubscribed CLE programs.
Contact the Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law Section Liaison
To learn more about this Section, please contact Dana Alamia
[email protected]
(518) 487-5607
Barry Werbin
Barry Werbin is Chair of the Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law Section (EASL) of the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA).
Barry heads up Herrick, Feinstein LLP’s intellectual property and technology practices, and concentrates his litigation and transactional practice in trademarks, trade dress, copyrights, unfair competition, false advertising, publicity and privacy rights, trade secrets, domain name issues, digital rights protection, content and data licensing, Internet and e-commerce issues, marketing and publishing agreements, IP due diligence, software licensing and development, IT support agreements, website development and hosting, and data security breaches.
Barry has been Co-Chair of the NYSBA EASL Section’s Publicity, Privacy and Media Committee, and a long-time member of the EASL Executive Committee. Barry was Chair of the Copyright & Literary Property Committee of the New York City Bar Association (2010-2013) and was Co-Chair of the Copyright Society of the U.S.A, New York Chapter (Sept. 2017- Aug. 2019). He is currently a member of the INTA’s Commercialization of Brands Committee. Barry is also Co-Chair of Fordham Law School’s Intellectual Property Alumni Affinity Group and is a member of the Fordham Art Law Society Advisory Board. Barry lectures on copyright law and software at St. John’s Law School and Brooklyn Law School.
Online Community
Committee Roster
EASL Journal
Diverse opinions contribute to the vitality of the law, and for every topic there are many issues to be addressed. The Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law Journal is a forum for ideas and a repository for legal analyses and theories. The EASL Journal presents topics that EASL attorneys address on a daily basis, and provides comprehensive overviews of both large issues that affect a majority of the EASL Section membership and analyses of more specific issues that affect only a few. In addition to contributions from practicing attorneys, the EASL Journal accepts articles from laypersons involved with issues that affect many in the EASL fields. Edited by Elissa D. Hecker, Esq., the EASL Journal is published three times a year by the Entertainment, Art and Sports Law Section and distributed to Section members free of charge.
The EASL Journal is published as a benefit for members of the Entertainment, Art and Sports Law Section and is copyrighted by the New York State Bar Association. The copying, reselling, duplication, transferring, reproducing, reusing, retaining or reprinting of this publication is strictly prohibited without permission.
© New York State Bar Association. All rights reserved. ISSN 1090-8730 (print) ISSN 1933-8546 (online)
The Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law Journal encourages article submissions on topics of interest to members of the Section. Writing an article for a NYSBA Section publication is a great way to get your name out in the legal community and advertise your knowledge. Our authors are respected state-wide for their legal expertise in such areas as copyright law, protection and infringement; orphan works; music publishing; estate planning for art collectors; and celebrity contracts.
MCLE credit may also be earned for legal-based writing directed to an attorney audience upon application to the CLE Board. NYSBA Guidelines for Obtaining MCLE Credit for Writing as well as a Publication Credit Application are available.
If you have written an article and would like to have it considered for publication in the Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law Journal, please send it in electronic document format (pdfs are NOT acceptable), along with biographical information to its Editor:
Elissa D. Hecker, Esq.
[email protected]
EASL Blog
The Blog Provides a Forum and News Source on Issues of Interest The blog acts as a new informational resource on topics of interest, including the latest Section programs and Initiatives, as well as provides a forum for debate and discussion to anyone in the world with access to the Internet.
To submit a Blog entry, email Elissa D. Hecker at [email protected]
Executive Committee Meeting Minutes
Entertainment, Arts & Sports Law Section Committee
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Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee (Entertainment, Arts, And Sports Law)
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Copyright And Trademark Committee
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Current Legislation Committee (Entertainment, Arts, And Sports Law)
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Digital Entertainment Committee
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Diversity Committee (Entertainment, Arts, And Sports Law)
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EASL: Law Student Committee
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Executive Committee (Entertainment, Arts, And Sports Law)
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Fashion Law Committee
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Fine Arts Committee
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In-House Counsel Committee (Entertainment, Arts, And Sports Law)
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International Committee (Entertainment, Arts, And Sports Law)
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Legislation Committee (Entertainment, Arts, And Sports Law)
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Literary Works And Related Rights Committee
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Litigation Committee (Entertainment, Arts, And Sports Law)
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Membership Committee (Entertainment, Arts, And Sports Law)
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Motion Pictures Committee
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Music Committee
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Nominating Committee (Entertainment, Arts, And Sports Law)
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Non-Profit Committee (Entertainment, Arts, And Sports Law)
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Phil Cowan – Judith Bresler Memorial Scholarship Committee
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Pro Bono Steering Committee (Entertainment, Arts, And Sports Law)
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Publicity, Privacy, And Media Committee
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Sports Committee
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Television And Radio Committee
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Theatre And Performing Arts Committee
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Young Entertainment Lawyers Committee
Scholarships
Law students, take note of this publishing and scholarship opportunity: The Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law Section of the New York State Bar Association (EASL)’s Phil Cowan – Judith Bresler Memorial Scholarship, named after two esteemed former EASL Chairs, offers up to two awards of $2,500 each on an annual basis in Phil Cowan’s and Judith Bresler’s memories to law students who are committed to a practice concentrating in one or more areas of entertainment, art or sports law.
Program Archive
Law Resources
NEWS SOURCES
LEGAL RESEARCH
- Berne Convention
- Find Law Legal Subjects: Intellectual Property
- Legal Information Institute (Law About Intellectual Property)
- UDRP Opinion Guide (Harvard Law School’s Searchable Database of Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy Decisions)
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
- Stanford Law Library Copyright and Fair Use Index (Fair Use Resource)
- U.S. Supreme Court
GOVERNMENTAL SOURCES
- Federal Communications Commission (Regulation of Interstate and International Communications by Radio, Television, Wire, Satellite and Cable)
- The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Domain Name Issues)
- National Telecommunications and Information Administration (The Executive Branch’s Principal Voice on Domestic and International Telecommunications and Information Technology Issues)
- United States Copyright Office (Procedures, forms, statutes, forms and searches)
- United States Department of Commerce
- United States Patent and Trademark Office
- World Intellectual Property Organization
JOURNALS
- Cardozo Arts and Entertainment Law Journal
- Entertainment Law Reporter
- Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal
- Hastings Communications and Entertainment Law Journal
- Journal of the Copyright Society of the U.S.A.
- U. Chicago-Kent Journal of IP and Entertainment Law Case Review
INDUSTRY CONTACTS
- ABA Intellectual Property Law Section (Review of Recent IP Law and Analysis)
- Actors’ Equity
- American Federation of Musicians of the U.S. and Canada (Labor Union)
- ASCAP (Performance Rights Society)
- Association of American Publishers (Trade Association of the Book Publishing Industry)
- The Authors Guild (Society of Published Authors)
- BMI (Performance Rights Society)
- Copyright Clearance Center
- Copyright Society of the USA
- Dramatists Guild of America
- Graphic Artists Guild
- National Endowment for the Arts
- National Music Publishers’ Association, Inc. (Trade Association for U.S. Music Publishers)
- Ocean State Lawyers for the Arts
- Screen Actors Guild
- SESAC (Performance Rights Society)
- The Harry Fox Agency, Inc. (Information Source, Clearing House and Monitoring)
- The Recording Industry Association of America
- The Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers
Law Student Resources
How Can The Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law Section Benefit Me?
For students the Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law Section can provide a terrific opportunity for students to become well-versed in the legal issues facing the entertainment and sports industries. Section events can provide unique opportunities for students to network and be introduced to potential employers. The Section’s Law Student initiative giving law students a chance to publish articles both in the EASL Journal as well as on the EASL Web site. Click Below to learn more about what EASL has to offer.
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