Practice Areas Intellectual Property Litigation Entertainment Litigation

Education University of California, Los Angeles School of Law, J.D. University of California, Berkeley B.A.

State Bar Admissions California

Robert E. Allen is a member of the Intellectual Property Department. As a highly accomplished, results-focused attorney, Robert has significant experience in both litigation and transactions involving copyright and trademark, specializing in entertainment and new media related fields.

His litigation practice focuses on representing creators and copyright owners in the protection of their works, including recording artists, songwriters, actors, photographers and  authors, as well as ensuring they are properly accounted to and paid.

His transactional practice focuses on providing counsel on both domestic and international acquisitions, negotiating licenses and agreements relating to music, film, television, digital media, production, television exploitation, on-demand media delivery, gaming and software.

Prior to returning to private practice, Robert was the senior vice president, head of business and legal affairs for Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG), and led its New Media Business Development.

Representative Matters

Litigation

Quincy Jones.  Counsel for  Quincy Jones against Michael Jackson’s company, MJJ Productions regarding Quincy’s masters on the albums Off The Wall, Thriller and Bad.

Sinclair Broadcast Group Litigation.  Counsel for Brittney Gobble Photography in its copyright infringement action against Sinclair Broadcast Group.

Sweetwater Sounds Litigation. Counsel for D’Pergo Custom Guitars in its copyright infringement action against Sweetwater Sound

SAG-AFTRA Disputes.  Counsel for various actors related to union election violations, union officials’ breach of fiduciary duties and pension benefit discrimination.

Evox.  Counsel for Evox Productions in its copyright infringement actions against various online infringers of its catalog of automobile photographs.

Procter & Gamble Litigation.  Counsel for Navarro Photography in its copyright infringement action against The Procter & Gamble Company.

Osram Sylvania Litigation.  Counsel for Photographic Illustrator’s Corp. in its copyright infringement actions against Osram Sylvania, one of the largest lighting manufacturers.

Pre-1972 Sound Recording Litigation.  Counsel for several record companies in their class action suits against radio and Internet stations owned by CBS Radio, Cumulus and iHeart regarding the license or pay for the use of sound recordings created prior to 1972.

Estate of Jack Kerouac.  Counsel for the Estate of Jack Kerouac and Kerouac’s heirs in their successful recapturing of Kerouac’s renewal term copyrights in his famous novels, On The Road and The Dharma Bums.  

DJ Mustard Litigation.  Counsel for Mikely Adam, a co-writer and co-producer of many famous songs, in his copyright infringement suit against the producer DJ Mustard.

Luis Coronel.  Counsel for Luis Coronel, the latin “Justin Bieber,” and Empire Productions against copyright infringement claims by a producer.

Sirius XM Litigation.  Counsel for the Turtles against Sirius XM in class actions around the country concerning misappropriation of their pre-1972 recordings.

Paramount Pictures Litigation. Counsel for the writers of the first G.I Joe film in a copyright infringement action against Paramount Pictures for misappropriation of treatments and pitch materials in the $350,000,000 grossing sequel.

CBS Television Litigation.  Counsel for the famous composer for reversion of copyright to the Hawaii Five-0 theme song.

Aimee Mann.  Counsel for Aimee Mann in her copyright infringement claims against MediaNet.

Berry Oakley Jr.  Counsel for Berry Oakley Jr., son of Raymond Oakley, who was one of the original members of The Allman Brothers, successfully recapturing his renewal term copyrights to the songs written by his father. 

Transactional Matters

Television Network.  Business affairs for startup television network on DirecTV/Verizon FIOS, including motion picture acquisitions and licensing, original programming production, web development, and regulatory compliance.

Electronics Company.  Content licensing, software development, white label product, and marketing support for consumer electronic company’s IPTV digital media service.

Digital Distribution Company. Movie and TV content licensing and software application licensing to consumer electronics products for entertainment digital distribution company, including electronic sell through, digital rental, Ultraviolet, and Disc to Digital distribution.

Major Music Company. Handled negotiations with (1) Apple, YouTube, Google and Amazon for song digital distribution, (2) high-profile, major writers, including Prince, Eminem, U2, Justin Bieber, Chris Daughtry, R Kelly, Mariah Carey, the Foo Fighters, Bon Jovi, Jack Johnson, Gloria Estefan, Chris Brown, 50 Cent, 3 Doors Down, Babyface and Diane Warren, among many others; (3) major studios for licensing of high profile music in film and TV.