| Biography:
Charles B. Ortner, a partner in the Firm's Litigation and Dispute Resolution Department in New York, focuses his practice on the entertainment and media industries. The matters which Mr. Ortner has handled, as a litigator or as a counselor and strategic advisor, cover virtually the entire entertainment and media legal and business landscapes, including: copyright, trademark, false advertising and unfair competition; contract disputes; libel and slander; privacy; internal corporate investigations; defense of class actions; senior executive contract negotiations and terminations; securities law litigation; and significant business transactions, including mergers and catalogue acquisitions. Mr. Ortner also is the National Legal Counsel to the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc. (the GRAMMY® Award organization).
Mr. Ortner has represented many of the world's most successful recording artists (including Madonna, Shania Twain, Michael Jackson, Sting, The Police, Janet Jackson, Green Day, The Eagles, Bon Jovi, Bonnie Raitt, Trent Reznor/Nine Inch Nails, Sean "Diddy" Combs, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Maroon 5, Joss Stone, My Chemical Romance, Matisyahu, Cyndi Lauper, Whitney Houston, Meat Loaf, Collective Soul, Lauryn Hill and Rob Thomas/Matchbox 20); renowned record producers (including Phil Ramone, Rick Rubin and Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds); and leading entertainment industry executives and entrepreneurs including Jimmy Iovine, Chris Blackwell, Russell Simmons, Robert Sillerman and Antonio "LA" Reid".
Among the landmark entertainment industry cases Mr. Ortner has handled are:
- Humphrey v. Def Jam and CBS Records, a copyright case in which
the plaintiff, relying upon voiceprint technology, falsely claimed that his
voice was the voice of the rap superstar L.L. Cool J on the hit album, "Radio".
At the trial, the court dismissed the complaint; imposed monetary sanctions
against the plaintiff's attorneys; and cancelled the plaintiff's fraudulent
copyright registration.
- Island Records v. SST Records, in which Island Records obtained
a copyright and Lanham Trademark Act injunction and seizure of infringing
goods against a record company which was distributing a purported parody album.
The defendant's album packaging deceptively created the appearance that its
album was a genuine U2 album.
- Sanga Music v. EMI Music Publishing and Reprise Records, in
which the District Court granted, and the Second Circuit affirmed, summary
judgment dismissing a copyright infringement lawsuit arising out of the recording
by Enya of the song, "How Can I Keep From Singing" in the hit album,
"Shepherd's Moon". The defendants demonstrated that nearly 40 years
before the lawsuit, the plaintiff songwriter had allowed her composition to
enter the public domain by authorizing a friend to publish the song, without
a copyright notice, in an obscure folk song periodical.
- Mark Onofrio v. Trent Reznor, Nine Inch Nails and Interscope Records,
in which the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the grant of summary
judgment dismissing copyright claims involving five songs on the hit album,
Downward Spiral, and awarded the defendants their prevailing party attorneys'
fees under the Copyright Act.
- PolyGram v. Glotzer and Benjamin, in which the court sustained
PolyGram's complaint alleging claims under the antifraud provisions of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 in a dispute concerning PolyGram's investment
in a privately held video distribution venture.
- Sylvester v. RCA Records, et al., a class action against the
four largest record companies, in which the court dismissed the complaint
seeking a declaratory judgment that the digital and other new media exploitation
rights belonged to virtually every recording artist who had ever recorded
for a major label.
- Dan Brown, Random House, Sony Pictures, et al. v. Lewis Purdue, in which the U.S. District Court, 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals and U.S. Supreme Court dismissed a copyright infringement lawsuit which sought, among other things, to enjoin the release and distribution of the “Da Vinci Code” motion picture.
- MGM v. Grokster, in which we filed amicus briefs on behalf of The Recording Academy, the Recording Artists’ Coalition and over fifty leading recording artists, successfully arguing that the Grokster and similar on-line music sharing systems were engaged in massive copyright infringement.
- Jacques Agnant vs. Estate of Tupac Shakur, Interscope Records, et al., in which the U.S. District Court granted Summary Judgment dismissing plaintiff’s libel claims based on the content of a recording by Tupac Shakur.
Mr. Ortner has been an invited speaker at bar association and continuing legal
education programs, law school classes and seminars throughout the United States,
including Harvard Law School, Stanford Law School, Georgetown University Law Center, Columbia University
School of Business, Boston University School of Law and the Annenberg Foundation.
Mr. Ortner served as an aide to John V. Lindsay, Mayor of the City of New York,
and as an assistant to Whitney North Seymour, Jr., United States Attorney for
the Southern District of New York. He has served as an officer of various committees
of the American Bar Association and the New York City Bar Association and was
appointed by the President of the New York State Bar Association to a special
committee on reform of the New York State Legislature. Mr. Ortner is a member of the SoundExchange Artist Advisory Board, a member of the executive committee and the board of trustees of the Multiple Myeloma
Research Foundation, and served as counsel to MusiCares, Inc., a charity devoted
to providing assistance to indigent, aged and infirm members of the music community.
Mr. Ortner is also president of the Kanye West Foundation which supports educational
initiatives.
Mr. Ortner was listed in The Best Lawyers in America 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 for
Entertainment Law; in Chambers USA 2005, 2006 and 2007 for Media and Entertainment
Law; Expert Guides to the World’s Leading Lawyers for Technology, Media and Telecommunications Law; New York Super Lawyers 2006 and 2007 for Entertainment and Sports
Law; and in Lawdragon 3000 as one of the leading lawyers in the United States. Mr. Ortner was also named by The Hollywood Reporter as one of 100 "Power Lawyers" in the entertainment industry.
Mr. Ortner is admitted to practice in New York State, and in the United States
Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second, Third and
Ninth Circuits, and the United States District Courts for the Southern District
and Eastern District of New York.
Mr. Ortner received his A.B. degree from Washington University in St. Louis, and his J.D. degree from Brooklyn Law School.
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