Samuel Cohen: Sheppard Mullin

Overview

Sam Cohen is an associate in the Entertainment, Technology, and Advertising Practice Group in the firm’s New York office. He is lead associate of the Esports & Games Industry Team.

Areas of Practice

Sam represents a variety of emerging and established clients in their business ventures and transactions in all facets of the entertainment industry. He is primarily focused on transactions and legal issues arising from the convergence of entertainment, media, and technological innovation. With deep experience in the music industry, Sam guides both clients in the music business, such as artists, record labels, distributors, and performing rights organizations, as well as other media and tech companies in their music related business ventures and strategic transactions. Areas of expertise include:

Advising on transactions and intellectual property issues involving disruptive technologies including blockchain and cryptocurrency, NFTs, Web3, the metaverse, VR/AR and interactive media, monetization issues, evolving distribution models, and live-broadcasting initiatives.
Structuring and negotiating talent, production, recording, licensing, and distribution deals across platforms and content including music, podcasts, digital video, esports, and gaming.
Structuring and negotiating technology-related commercial transactions including master services agreements, SaaS, consulting agreements, and other agreements pertaining to online services and software development, licensing, distribution, and procurement.
Advising on advertising and promotional initiatives across industries including joint venture agreements, influencer marketing, sponsorships and endorsements, programmatic advertising, venue licensing and brand activations, contests, and sweepstakes.
Copyright and trademark strategy, risk evaluation, registration, enforcement, and compliance with applicable regulations.
Drafting and implementing terms of service, privacy policies, and end user license agreements for websites, apps, and various products and services.

Sam was previously in-house counsel at Sony Music Entertainment, where he focused on technology transactions, advertising and influencer marketing, content licensing, and copyright and trademark issues.