Singh, Singh & Trauben, LLP’s Managing Partner, Simran Singh, is a seasoned entertainment law attorney who previously worked for years as in-house counsel for the world’s largest music company (Universal Music). In addition, for nearly 10 years, attorneys at Singh, Singh & Trauben have represented an array of motion picture production and distribution companies, motion picture producers, independent film companies, recording artists, record labels, music producers, music managers, music publishers, songwriters, recording studios, concert promoters, actors, writers, directors, dancers, choreographers and models alike. Our clients include award-winning music producers, recording artists, songwriters, renowned film and television production companies and Emmy winning television producers.
ENTERTAINMENT
- Structure finance, production and distribution agreements as well as talent and executive employment, rights acquisitions and sales agreements for both established and emerging film, music and media entities;
- Assist in raising debt and equity capital from private and public sources to fund studio and independent projects and entertainment companies;
- Assist actors, writers, directors and producers with a broad range of matters, from drafting and negotiating contracts and distribution agreements to complex financing and licensing agreements;
- Represent urban, hip-hop, R&B, rock, metal, electronic, alternative, indie and Latin music stars, songwriters and recording legends as well as estates to protect their interests;
- Represent record and publishing companies, production companies, music industry executives and managers, songwriters, and concert promotion companies on a range of matters, including contracts, licensing and merchandising, corporate sponsorship, financing, copyright litigation, mergers and acquisitions and labor;
- Negotiate employment contracts for talent and top level executives;
- Represent the interests of key business and creative players in structuring and negotiating innovative brand integration and activation deals for feature films, television, new media, music and video games;
- Negotiate rights agreements, including literary option and purchase agreements and life story rights agreements, and agreements for actors, writers, directors and producers;
- Structure complex production and talent agreements for scripted and unscripted/reality television series;
- Review and analyze complex chains of title;
- Draft and negotiate recording, publishing, management, distribution, touring, merchandising, licensing, partnership and Internet agreements, as well as devise strategies to help our clients protect their intellectual property rights;
- Negotiate agreements between sales agents and producer/financiers and agreements between producers and distributors;
- Represent studios, producers and brands in commercial tie-in, product placement and publicity arrangements, including contests and web-based promotions;
- Develop strategies to build or exploit brand value;
- Advise on trademark registration and negotiate licensing agreements and merchandising agreements;
- Advise producers on structuring investment vehicles and negotiate deals between rights holders and producers/financiers;
- Represent investors and entrepreneurs looking to invest in the entertainment sector by analyzing business plans and structuring deals;
- Structure transactions including the establishment of film funds, corporate formation and securities offering.
CORPORATE
Our attorneys draw upon substantial experience in corporate law to provide counsel to entrepreneurs and new businesses to seasoned businesses alike in navigating a wide range of business formation and governing needs, from determining the type of entity to establish at the inception of the business, to preparing documents necessary to structure and operate that entity, including protection of the business intellectual property rights. We work closely with each business to provide pragmatic and cost-effective solutions to their business needs, maintaining the skill-set to handle both transaction and litigation matters. Our attorneys similarly have extensive experience in counseling established businesses in many facets of their ongoing legal needs, providing a full range of services to meet the legal challenges of business needs, including private placement memorandums, operating agreements, employment agreements, mergers and acquisitions, joint venture agreements, non-disclosure agreements and licensing contracts.
- Represent foreign and domestic clients in a broad range of corporate, financial, securities, and real estate transactions;
- Represent a variety of private equity groups, closely held businesses and start-up companies in drafting and negotiating joint venture and strategic alliance agreements, consulting agreements, restricted stock plans, non-competition and non-solicitation agreements, employment agreements and manuals, promissory notes, operating agreements and bylaws, and licensing, distribution and lease agreements;
- Represent entrepreneurs with transformational technologies for the delivery of digital content;
- Structure financial arrangements among investors, financiers, distributors and senior lenders;
- Project finance, capital leasing, and other financing transactions;
- Assist in drafting and negotiating financing agreements, including forbearance, loan and restructuring agreements,
- Intellectual property, real estate, and other liabilities due diligence;
- Shareholder, partner or member relationships, disputes and buyouts;
- Represent clients in a wide range of labor negotiation and employment litigation matters;
- Structuring franchise relationships.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
The ever adjusting landscape of intellectual property is a valuable asset of any business or individual, especially those in the creative-driven economies of Hollywood and Silicon Valley. Our attorneys have extensive experience in intellectual property law, from the common to the cutting edge. We have advised both emerging companies and industry leaders in numerous IP-driven fields, including entertainment, film, video games, software, internet, mobile applications, and fashion.
Based upon its extensive experience and concentration in the protection of all types of intellectual property rights, our firm provides counseling in the areas of copyright, trademark, intellectual property and licensing agreements, anti-piracy and trade secrets. Our firm additionally represents numerous clients in connection with the protection, enforcement and exploitation of intellectual property rights. Our litigators have both prosecuted and defended matters in a comprehensive array of intellectual property disputes, particularly handling a diverse range of copyright and trademark infringement matters and licensing and royalty disputes.
In addition to frequently handling litigation matters related to copyright, trade secret, unfair competition, right of privacy and publicity and licensing issues, our attorneys provide advice and counseling in transactional representation involving copyright registrations, title searches, and licensing. Our attorneys also provide a full-service domestic trademark practice, including filing trademark applications, trademark availability searches and frequently litigating claims predicated upon trademark and unfair competition throughout the United States.
Our attorneys pride themselves on applying a common sense approach to their clients’ matters, taking into account both legal and practical considerations. Our goal is to provide concise explanations and advice on complex intellectual property issues so that our clients can focus on what they do best: operating and expanding their business.
LITIGATION
Singh, Singh & Trauben is further comprised of accomplished attorneys who have extensive experience representing clients in a wide range of entertainment litigation matters, including numerous intellectual property, music royalty, sampling, licensing, accounting and commission disputes. Our attorneys have successfully represented our entertainment clients in a multitude of high-magnitude litigation matters, including successful representation in multi-million dollar disputes with high-profile record labels, distributors, broadcast television networks, American media companies, artist management companies, mega-concert tour promoters and Grammy-award winning artists and producers.
The attorneys of Singh, Singh & Trauben have extensive experience at large regional firms specializing in commercial and general business litigation matters. Our firm provides comprehensive counseling, strategic planning and litigation services in a broad and progressive scope of industries. Our firm represents an array of highly-reputable and successful entrepreneurs and businesses, ranging from top internet marketing and advertising firms and networks, preeminent premier all-natural, life-style supplement companies, one of the largest apparel manufacturer companies in the country, cutting-edge tech start-up companies, and global product distributors to award-winning School District Superintendents and Medical Doctors embroiled in business-related disputes. In addition to dedicating particularized attention to providing premier transactional and corporate legal counsel on behalf of our business clients, our attorneys have successfully prosecuted and defended myriad litigation matters on behalf of our business clients, including actions related to breaches of contracts and licensing agreements, misappropriation of trade secrets, insurance company disputes, deceptive trade practices, alleged Labor and Uniform Commercial Code violations and a host of additional complex and business litigation matters.
Entertainment Litigation Representative Experience
- Extensive experience in state and federal courts across the entire United States;
- Extensive experience working with skilled mediators and civil collaborative law practitioners to provide the full spectrum of dispute resolution opportunities to our clients;
- Maintain a multidisciplinary litigation practice that encompasses film, television, radio, music, art, digital entertainment and advertising;
- Consistently litigate high-profile disputes ranging from actions for an accounting and payment in music royalty disputes, and breaches of distribution and producer agreements, to disputes regarding celebrity life story rights and intellectual property theft;
- Litigate a wealth of copyright infringement claims for major recording artists and producers, including representing producers and songwriters in copyright infringement claims over music composition and performance rights in, among other places, television and feature films;
- Litigate numerous claims involving royalties, sampling, licensing and commission fees owed;
- Represent content creators in defense of copyright and trademark claims, including legal matters related to DMCA take-down provisions;
- Represent reputable creators and showrunners of acclaimed television series in disputes with production companies;
- Represent award winning television producers in disputes with global media and production companies;
- Litigate defamation and right of publicity and privacy rights disputes;
- Copyright and trademark protection & enforcement.
Business Litigation Representative Experience
- Extensively litigate cases in federal and state court involving alleged misappropriation of trade secrets, trademark infringement and dilution, unfair competition and false advertising;
- Defend corporate clients in federal and state false advertising and breach of warranty consumer class action matters before federal and state trial and appellate courts;
- Defend corporate clients in a range of employment law and labor disputes, including restrictive covenant employment litigation, non-solicitation agreements and trade secrets;
- Computer and information technology disputes;
- Dissolution of corporations and partnerships;
- Shareholder and partnership disputes;
- Antitrust and unfair competition disputes;
- Libel, slander and violation of privacy;
- Commercial real estate disputes;
- Construction law disputes;
- Creditor Representation – Insolvency;
- General commercial litigation.