Intellectual Property

Mr. Garrett focuses on copyright and telecommunications law, particularly as it affects the sports and entertainment industries and the distribution of copyrighted works over new and traditional media, including the Internet, mobile devices, broadcast television, cable television and satellite. His clients have included the major professional sports leagues, motion picture studios, recording companies, broadcast and cable television networks, and municipal and foreign governments. 

Mr. Garrett has handled copyright and telecommunications matters before the federal courts, Copyright Office, Copyright Royalty Board (and its predecessors), Federal Communications Commission, US Trade Representative, Commerce Department, State Department, World Intellectually Property Organization, and Congress.

In May 2008, Legal Times named Mr. Garrett one of 10 "Leading Lawyers in Copyright and Trademark" in Washington, DC. He was named a "Top Lawyer" in Washington, DC for Intellectual Property by Washingtonian magazine (2011-12). He was ranked as one of the "Leading Lawyers" in the United States for Intellectual Property: Copyright by The Legal 500 US 2012; and was recognized for Media Technology and Telecoms: Sports by The Legal 500 US 2010. Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business 2012 ranked Mr. Garrett nationally as a "Leading Individual" for Sports Law and Media & Entertainment Law.

Mr. Garrett is a cum laude graduate of Northwestern University School of Law where he served as Executive Editor of the Northwestern University Law Review and a member of the school's national Moot Court team. Mr. Garrett was a co-recipient of the William Jennings Bryan Award and Adlai Ewing Stevenson Award. He clerked for then-Judge John Paul Stevens of the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. While an officer in the US Army, Mr. Garrett served as an Assistant to the General Counsel of the Army and Staff Counsel for the Special Commission that investigated Honor Code violations at the US Military Academy.

Intellectual Property Representative Matters

• Served as lead counsel to a consortium of major sports leagues (MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL, WNBA, and NCAA) in multiple proceedings before the Copyright Royalty Board (and predecessor agencies), the Copyright Office, federal courts, and Congress involving disputes over the distribution of several billion dollars in Copyright Act compulsory licensing royalties. Also served as lead counsel on behalf of sports leagues in negotiations (and related litigation and congressional proceedings) with the cable television and satellite industries to determine royalty rates for the compulsory licensing of television programming.
• Advised Major League Baseball concerning the copyright, telecommunications, and right of publicity issues concerning the telecast of MLB games over traditional and new media. Represented MLB in numerous proceedings before the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Copyright Office, Copyright Royalty Board, federal courts, and Congress, as well as in contract negotiations, concerning the telecast of MLB games over traditional and new media.
• Represented motion picture studios and broadcast television networks in federal court litigation involving the unauthorized streaming of copyrighted television programming over the Internet to personal computers, laptops, BlackBerries, iPods, iPads and other mobile devices. Advised various clients on related contractual issues concerning rights in new media.
• Represented motion picture studios and broadcast television networks in federal court copyright litigation involving cloud computing issues.
• Represented major motion picture studio in state court litigation concerning entitlement to copyright royalties.
• Represented sports leagues in proceedings before the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the US Delegation to WIPO concerning an international treaty involving theft of broadcasting signals.
• Advised motion picture studios, sports leagues, and broadcast networks on legal and policy issues related to user-generated content (UGC), lifecasting and peer-to-peer (P2P) Internet services, including applicability of DMCA and industry best practices
• Represented municipal governments before the FCC and federal courts in proceedings involving the regulation of cable television under the federal Cable Act.
• Advised foreign government concerning modernization of its copyright law; represented foreign government in trade proceedings before the US Government concerning sufficiency of IP protection.
• Represented sports leagues, motion picture studios, and broadcast networks on various matters concerning the protection of copyrighted programming under Chinese and international copyright law, including presentations before the US-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade and judges of the Chinese Supreme Court and assistance in copyright litigation in China.
• Represented recording industry in litigation with broadcasters concerning copyright liability for the streaming of sound recordings over the Internet.
• Represented recording industry in litigation to set royalty rates and terms for the use of sound recordings by Internet and satellite services pursuant to compulsory licensing provisions of Copyright Act.
• Represented petitioner and argued before the Supreme Court in a major copyright work for hire case.
• Authored several amicus briefs before the federal courts (including the Supreme Court) on matters involving the proper interpretation of the Copyright Act, Cable Act, and First Amendment, including MGM v. Grokster; Campbell v. Acuff-Rose; BellSouth v. Donnelley; Cablevision v. MPAA; NAB v. Quincy Cable; Turner Broadcasting v. FCC; Medlock v. Pledger; Capitol Records v. Thomas; MASN v. Time Warner Cable; and CBS Broadcasting v. Aereo, Inc.