WHO WE ARE

The New York State Bar Association’s Entertainment, Arts & Sports Law Section (EASL) has more than 1,200 members representing varied interests, including some of the sexiest issues grabbing headlines, being debated in Congress, and argued in the courts. The EASL Section provides substantive case law forums for discussion and debate and information-sharing in the EASL e-community.

SECTION BENEFITS

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.

SECTION COMMITTEES

The Section is composed 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 regularly oversubscribed CLE programs.

The Entertainment, Arts & Sports Law Section has been in the forefront of introducing, monitoring and evaluating legal developments in the areas of entertainment, art and sports law at both federal and New York State levels.

CONTACT US 

To learn more about this Section, please contact Sharmin Woodall
[email protected]
(518) 487-5686

Please do not contact the Section liaison with a request for legal advice or an attorney referral. You can instead visit our ‘Public Resources’ or ‘Lawyer Referral Service’ page for this type of request.

Music Business and Law Conference Sponsors

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Silver Sponsor

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Luncheon Sponsor

Customers Bank
Customers Bank

Reception Sponsor

Vydia
VYDIA

Sarah Robertson

Sarah Robertson

Sarah has over twenty years’ experience helping clients protect, enforce and exploit their intellectual property assets and overseeing clients’ general business needs, with particular depth in the creative industries, tech, financial and consumer product sectors.

Sarah has extensive experience in a wide scope of corporate and commercial agreements and transactions involving intellectual property, and assisting with the day-to-day needs of clients. She clears, registers and enforces brand names in the U.S. and internationally. She handles sales and distribution issues, as well as complex licensing matters. She represents clients in Trademark Trial and Appeal Board proceedings and in disputes involving intellectual property, including mobile app and domain name conflicts. She also counsels clients on marketing, advertising, contest and online reputation management issues. Sarah also services clients operating in the creative and entertainment industries, including in areas involving rights exploitation, including U.S.-China film, TV and music related transactions, as well as in the newly-developing cannabis branding area.

Also admitted to practice in Ontario, Canada, and currently qualified as a Foreign Legal Consultant in Ontario, Sarah has extensive experience in Canadian cross-border issues and helping Canadian businesses enter the U.S. market.

Sarah is the head of Dorsey’s New York Trademark Group and the firm’s Creative Industries Industry Group. Sarah is a contributor to Dorsey’s critically-acclaimed IP Blog, TheTMCA.com, which focuses on legal developments in the world of TradeMarks, Copyrights, and Advertising. TheTMCA.com and the Firm’s Trademark Practice Group have been recognized in JD Supra’s 2022 Readers’ Choice Awards.

Prior Chairs

1988-1990                        Marc Jacobson (Founding Chair)

1990-1991                        Eric R. Roper

1991-1992                        Howard Siegel

1992-1994                        Philip M. Cowan

1994-1996                        John R. Kettle III

1996-1998                        Samuel L. Pinkus

1998-2000                        Timothy J. DeBaets

2000-2002                        Judith A. Bresler

2002-2004                        Jeffrey A. Rosenthal

2004-2006                        Elissa D. Hecker

2006-2008                        Alan D. Barson

2008-2010                        Kenneth N. Swezey

2010-2012                        Judith B. Prowda

2012-2014                        Rosemarie Tully

2014-2016                        Stephen B. Rodner

2016-2018                        Diane Krausz

2018-2020                        Barry Skidelsky

2020-2022                        Barry Werbin

2022-2024                        Ethan Bordman

Online Community

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Entertainment, Arts & Sports Law Section Publications

Newly released issues are restricted to Section & Committee Members only for the first 90 days, after which they become available to all members.

EASL Journal Vol 35 No 3

Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law Journal – Vol. 35 No. 3

View Latest Issue
EASL Journal Archive

Section Pubs Teaser

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 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.

Submit an article for future publication
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Article Library

Looking for specific articles from our issues? Explore our library of individual articles, available from current and past editions.

View article library

Author Guidelines

NYSBA has created comprehensive author guidelines, with information regarding our reprint policy, style guidelines, and obtaining MCLE Author Credits.

View the author guidelines

Section Bylaws

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Engagement Guidelines

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List of Committees

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Executive Committee Meeting Minutes

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Entertainment, Arts & Sports Law Section 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.

Learn more about the The Phil Cowan – Judith Bresler Memorial Scholarship

Mentorship Program

The NYSBA Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law section is launching its Mentor Program in October 2022 to help the future generations of attorneys in the entertainment and sports industries. The program’s goal is to provide mentees with the opportunity to gain knowledge from experienced attorneys.

Learn more about the EASL Mentoring Program

Program Archive

2017 Music Business and Law Conference

Law Resources

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INDUSTRY CONTACTS

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.

Law Student Initiative
The Phil Cowan Memorial Scholarship
EASL Spring Meeting - Voice and Likeness Publicity Rights in AI Generated Content 2
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