| Biography:
Robert E. Freeman is a partner in our Corporate Department and a member of Proskauer’s Sports, Technology, Media and Communications Practice Groups. Rob began his career as an intellectual property litigator with a particular focus on copyright and patent before shifting the focus of his practice to IP-related transactions. He has extensive experience counseling clients on intellectual property and general business issues and on structuring and negotiating complex transactions relating to sports, cable, television, entertainment, media, emerging technologies, the Internet and computer-related products and services. In addition, Rob has particular expertise in the area of sports and arts-related sponsorship, naming rights, licensing, endorsement and talent-related agreements. Among other things, today Rob’s practice includes the negotiation of cable programming agreements including affiliation, retransmission consent, video-on-demand and pay-per-view agreements; agreements relating to content production and distribution across the wide variety of available platforms including broadband, wireless and other mobile platforms; joint ventures and strategic alliances; technology development and services agreements; sports licensing arrangements; and the supply, licensing, outsourcing, marketing and distribution of computer and telecommunications products and services.
Recent representative matters have included:
- Negotiation of a naming rights agreement involving an NBA arena, as well as all related ancillary agreements
- Negotiation of one of the largest programming distribution deals in history, involving the distribution of content across multiple platforms including cable and broadband platforms
- Negotiation of the renewal of all sponsorship and television agreements relating to a PGA Tour-sanctioned golf tournament
- Negotiation of numerous cable television affiliation and retransmission consent agreements
- Negotiation of over 60+ sponsorship, co-marketing and founding supporter agreements on behalf of the first museum of all sports, The Sports Museum of America
- Negotiation of numerous television and broadband rights agreements
- Negotiation of talent and endorsement agreements
- Negotiation of complex computer system and software procurement, development and outsourcing contracts
- Negotiation of agreements for the licensing and distribution of content on a worldwide basis of a multinational publisher of off-line and on-line business information magazines
- Representation of a leading IT consulting company in a series of negotiations involving a wide variety of development and consulting services and transactions ranging from $2 to $100 million
- Representation of multimedia companies in connection with the encoding and distribution of music and other products over the Internet
- Representation of start-ups regarding all aspects of formation, financing, and contracting
In both 2006 and 2007, Rob was recognized as a “New York Super Lawyer” by Law & Politics magazine in the area of sports and entertainment.
A member of the New York State Bar Association, Intellectual Property Law Section; the American Bar Association, Internet Committee and the Entertainment and Sports Section; and the Sports Lawyers Association, Rob frequently lectures on a variety of issues, including such topics as sports and technology law, emerging technology developments, intellectual property and digital rights.
Rob writes regularly on intellectual property and technology-related issues. He is the author of a monthly e-newsletter titled “Three Point Shot.” He is also the co-author of the chapter "E-Commerce Joint Ventures" in The Law of Interactive Media (ABA 2001) and a contributor to the treatise, Multimedia Law: Forms and Analysis.
Rob received his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center, cum laude, and he received his A.B. from Princeton University.
|
