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Paul M. Fakler

Intellectual Property

"Paul Fakler is well regarded for his copyright and trademark expertise, particularly in issues arising in the technology and music industries. One market insider describes him as 'a true copyright specialist and an excellent litigator,' while another notes: 'He provides superlative service.'"
Chambers USA

Overview

Paul Fakler advises and helps favorably resolve cases for companies in the streaming, broadcasting, media, software, and other industries to advance their business objectives. Paul offers clients representation guided by a rich understanding of the intersection between music (and other content), technology, and business. He frequently speaks and publishes on legal developments in these fields and has over two decades of experience litigating seminal cases involving the application of copyright and related law to digital media.

Although he helps clients with issues across many types of content, Paul has particularly deep experience resolving copyright issues relating to music, where clients operating at the cutting edge of technology require equally innovative legal representation. Paul offers creative solutions based on his deep understanding of copyright law and technology through counseling, government relations, and – when necessary – litigation.

Experience

Represented:

  • Pandora Media in group of copyright infringement cases coordinated by purported licensing collective, Word Collections, on behalf of alleged owners of the copyrights in jokes and comedy routines embodied in comedy sound recordings available on Pandora’s streaming service. In this case, the plaintiffs seek to disrupt decades of industry custom and practice by claiming that Pandora must separately license rights to the underlying jokes in addition to their existing licenses to stream the sound recordings. Paul serves as head of a large, multidisciplinary Mayer Brown team not only for Pandora’s defense of these actions, but also in counterclaims against the plaintiffs and Word Collections for violation of various antitrust laws.
  • Music Choice, the world’s first digital music service, in litigation brought by SoundExchange, alleging underpayment of statutory license royalties for Music Choice’s commercial background music service. The district court recently stayed the case and referred a question of legal interpretation of the applicable royalty regulation to the Copyright Royalty Board.

Recognition

  • A Billboard “Top Music Lawyer”
  • Ranked as a leading Media and Entertainment litigator, and Copyright and Trademark lawyer by Chambers & Partners USA.
  • Ranked in The Legal 500
  • Named a WIPR leader by World IP Review
  • Ranked a “Premier IP Star (Litigation)” in New York by Managing Intellectual Property

Education

  • Georgetown University Law Center, JD, cum laude
    Dean's List

Admissions

  • New York

Courts

  • US Supreme Court
  • US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
  • US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
  • US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
  • US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
  • US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
  • US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
  • US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
  • US District Court for the District of Columbia
  • US District Court for the Eastern District of New York
  • US District Court for the Northern District of New York
  • US District Court for the Southern District of New York
  • US District Court for the Western District of New York

Professional & Community Involvement

  • Clerked for the Hon. Peter T. Fay, United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit
  • New York State Bar Association, Intellectual Property Law Section, Former Chair
  • Copyright Society of the USA, Member
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