Yuhao (Zach) Dai

Yuhao “Zach” Dai is an associate in the Entertainment, Technology, and Advertising Practice Group in the firm's Century City office.

Areas of Practice

Zach’s practice focuses on global transactional entertainment matters. Born at the intersection of the Millennial and Gen Z generations, Zach brings a tech-forward approach to entertainment law—leveraging AI and automation to drive efficient deal closure and empower clients to reach their creative and business objectives.

Zach represents clients across all levels of the entertainment industry, ranging from major studios, production companies, streamers, and networks to emerging entertainment companies, non-profit entities, independent filmmakers, and artists. His work spans a wide range of content, including motion pictures, television (scripted and unscripted), vertical micro-series, animation, podcasts, and documentaries. He provides comprehensive legal support across the full cycle of a project’s life, including development, production, marketing, financing, licensing, and distribution, both domestically and internationally. 

His experience covers rights acquisitions, talent agreements, first-look and overall agreements, licensing and distribution agreements, production vendor agreements, co-financing agreements, composer agreements, and sync/master license agreements. On the due diligence front, he handles chain of title review on IP acquired for audiovisual adaptations, the evaluation of entertainment assets in merger and acquisition transactions, and background investigations of contestants in competition programming. In the emerging vertical micro-series space, apart from providing leading and boutique platforms with day-to-day entertainment legal support on development and production, he leads a cross-practice team of Sheppard Mullin attorneys advising them on the use of AI in content creation, labor and employment compliance, general corporate matters, litigation, and privacy issues.

Zach’s practice also extends to art law. He advised a membership-driven art platform on legal issues involved in various stages of transactions, from consignment to loan, and from purchase and sale to multi-year subscriptions. He has authored several art law articles published in professional journals and major media outlets, including “Unroll the Scroll: The Past and Present of Mainland China’s Auction Sector,” featured in the Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report 2023. He also contributed research for several well-known art law treatises, including the “California Chapter” of the Art Collecting Legal Handbook (3rd Edition) and the “China Chapter” of Art Law (2018).

Zach earned his J.D. with a specialization in Media, Entertainment, and Technology Law and Policy from UCLA School of Law. During his time at UCLA, he served as Vice President of the Entertainment Law Association and Submission Editor for the Entertainment Law Review, and provided pro bono for independent filmmakers through UCLA’s Documentary Film Legal Clinic. As a researcher at the UCLA Ziffren Institute for Media, Entertainment, Technology, and Sports Law, he supported the planning and execution of flagship programs such as the UCLA Entertainment Symposium and the Nimmer Lecture.

Prior to UCLA, Zach earned his LL.B. from East China University of Political Science and Law and passed the Chinese Bar Exam. His early career included internships at several leading Chinese law firms and the legal department of a major Chinese social media company and an American fast-fashion retailer. His deep expertise in U.S.–China entertainment and intellectual property law, combined with his bilingual proficiency and responsiveness across time zones, are highly valued by clients with a global presence.

In his free time, Zach enjoys crafting cross-cultural recipes, exploring museums, and watching documentaries.

Articles

AI Law and Policy Blog Posts

• "Computer Love: Beijing Court Finds AI-Generated Image is Copyrightable in Split with United States," December 4, 2023

Art Law Blog Posts

• "Titleless Tales of the Headless," November 6, 2023
• "Takeaways from the Hermès Litigation over MetaBirkins NFTs," March 9, 2023
• "'Not My Work': When Artists Dispute Authorship," February 1, 2023
• "NY Museums Required to Label the Last Prisoners of World War II," September 2, 2022
• "Unroll the Scroll Painting: Inside the Chinese Art Market and Its Regulatory Landscape," April 15, 2022

Speaking Engagements

• Presenter, “Copyright Issues & the U.S. Entertainment Industry’s Response in the Era of Generative AI,” Beijing Culture and Entertainment Law Society’s Annual Rule of Law Forum, March 2024

Memberships

Syllabus Attorney, 48th and 49th UCLA Entertainment Symposia

Member, UCLA Law Alumni Association Board of Directors 

LLM Ambassador, UCLA Law 

Scholarship Committee, Southern California Chinese Lawyers Association (SCCLA)

Legal Affairs Committee, China Television Drama Production Industry Association (CTPIA)

Member, Beverly Hills Bar Association (BHBA)