Bruce Rich

Partner

Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP

Current

Current

eBay Inc. Tiffany & Co. v. eBay On July 14, 2008, Judge Richard J. Sullivan of the Southern District of New York rejected all of Tiffany's claims against eBay in a suit in which Tiffany had claimed that eBay was responsible for policing counterfeit merchandise offered on its auction site. This ruling is seen as establishing landmark precedent on secondary trademark liability for Internet intermediaries. Especially notable in light of a recent judgment against eBay in France in a similar action brought by the French high-end goods company LVMH, Judge Sullivan's opinion completely vindicates eBay's position, which is that in its role as an e-commerce transaction intermediary, eBay cannot validate the provenance or authenticity of merchandise offered on the site.

Current

XM Satellite Radio XM Satellite Radio Obtained favorable result on behalf of XM Satellite Radio regarding royalty rate for copyright license covering performances of sound recordings transmitted by XM and Sirius Satellite Radio.

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America Online, Real Networks, Yahoo! United States of America v. American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers Represented America Online/Real Networks in dispute with ASCAP over royalties for music downloads. Won partial summary judgment; court ruled that downloads do not constitute “public performances”

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Bertelsmann AG In re Napster, Inc. Copyright Litigation, Case No. 06-15886 (9th Cir. 2006); Case No. 06-72515 (9th Cir. 2006); MDL 1369 (MHP) (N.D. Cal. 2003) Litigation over the former Napster service; successful settlements in the single largest copyright infringement case in U.S. history

Current

Bertelsmann AG UMG Recording, Inc. et al. v. Bertelsmann AG et al., 2000-CV-01369 (9th Cir. 2006) Appeal of ruling that compelled production of privileged documents under the “crime-fraud exception.” Won appeal: In a significant precedent, Court clarified scope of “crime-fraud exception”; also ruled substance of documents provided no evidence of fraud.

Current

eBay Inc. eBay Inc.; Robespierre, Inc. v. eBay Inc. et al., 1:05-CV-10484 (S.D.N.Y.) Successfully opposed preliminary injunction motion seeking to enjoin eBay from allowing third parties to sell Nanette Lepore merchandise through its website. more

Current

Copyright Clearance Center Inc. Seth Resnick, et al. v. Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. Obtained summary judgment dismissal for the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc, of a Lanham Act lawsuit brought by several freelance photographers claiming to represent a putative class of some 10,000 freelance photographers. more

Current

Bertelsmann AG In re Napster, Inc. Copyright Litigation Representing Bertelsmann AG in a series of litigations brought by music publishers and record labels asserting that Bertelsmann should be liable (for tens of billions of dollars) for contributory/vicarious copyright infringement stemming from its loans extended to the Napster file-sharing service. more

Current

The McGraw-Hill Companies Chicago Board Options Exchange, Incorporated, Dow Jones & Company, Inc., and The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. v. International Securities Exchange, LCC and The Options Clearing Corporation Representing McGraw-Hill and its Standard & Poor’s division in a series of litigations involving protection of the S&P 500 Index and related intellectual property. more

Current

Radio Music License Committee (RMLC) United States v. American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers: Application of Hicks Broadcasting of Indiana Inc., et al. Represent the nation’s commercial radio stations in their music license dealings with ASCAP, BMI and SESAC. Have negotiated industry-wide licenses, and counseled and litigated antitrust and rate-making matters on their behalf. more

Current

Television Music License Committee United States v. American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers: Applications of Post-Newsweek Stations, Inc., et al. Weil Gotshal, on behalf of the Television Music License Committee, successfully settled a federal “rate court” proceeding against the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (“ASCAP”) to determine reasonable copyright license fees and terms for the rights of the nation’s local television broadcasters to publicly perform music in ASCAP’s repertory. more

Current

Muzak/DMX United States v. ASCAP (Applications of Muzak and DMX) Represent Muzak LLC and DMX Music in negotiations and rate court litigation with ASCAP, BMI and SESAC. Secured favorable consent decree interpretation for these clients, affording new competitive licensing opportunities for all ASCAP and BMI users. more

Current

Random House Inc. Random House, Inc. v. Rosetta Books LLC Represented Random House in a copyright infringement action seeking to prevent RosettaBooks from selling “ebook” versions of works to which Random House owns exclusive publishing rights. This case of first impression resulted in a favorable settlement for our client. more

Current

America Online, Inc, MTV Networks and Others Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel and Copyright Royalty Board Proceedings Represented a group of “webcasters” (including America Online, Inc., MTV Networks and others) in a series of Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel and Copyright Royalty Board proceedings under sections 112 and 114 of the Copyright Act, to determine the structure and amount of royalties for the “streaming” of sound recordings on the Internet. These proceedings involve hearings spanning many months and involve economic issues of critical importance to our clients. more

Current

Internet Radio “Webcasting” Industry In the Matter of Digital Performance Right in Sound Recordings & Ephemeral Recordings Lead counsel heading Weil Gotshal's trial team in representation of the online "webcasting" industry in the largest-ever Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel proceedings under sections 112 and 114 of the US Copyright Act, to determine the structure and amount of royalties for the “streaming” of sound recordings on the Internet. These cases have spanned the 1998-2002 and 2003-04 statutory license periods and involved successful three-month trial proceedings and subsequent appellate proceedings. Clients involved included AOL, Yahoo!, MTV Networks, RealNetworks and others. Related litigation involved rulemaking proceedings on behalf of these clients before the US Copyright Office. more

Current

Television Music License Committee SESAC Local Television Arbitration WGM obtained an extremely favorable settlement on behalf of the Television Music License Committee in an arbitration against the Society of European Stage Authors and Composers, Inc. ("SESAC"), a performing rights society similar to ASCAP and BMI. The arbitration involved the determination of music performing rights fees for the use of SESAC repertory music by virtually all of the local commercial television stations in the United States. more

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Association of American Publishers Inc. United States v. American Library Association, Inc. On behalf of the Association of American Publishers, Inc. and eleven other organizations, wrote a merits amicus brief supporting the respondent's facial challenge to the Children's Online Protection Act, which requires public libraries to install Internet filters on all computers with Internet access as a condition of receiving certain federal funding. In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court rejected the challenge.

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Most of the cable television industry including Viacom U.S. v. ASCAP; In re Application of Turner Broadcasting Sys., et al. After more than a decade of litigation, a number of satellite/cable television services represented by Weil Gotshal reached a series of settlements with the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers ("ASCAP") regarding the structure and amount of copyright performance license fees for satellite/cable TV services in the United States.

Current

MTV Showtime Networks et al. U.S. v. Am. Soc. of Composers, Authors and Publishers, Application of Showtime Networks et al. Co-lead counsel representing more than 20 cable and satellite television program services in industry-wide litigations adverse to ASCAP. These cases have resulted in fundamental improvements in the structure and amounts of royalty fees payable by Weil Gotshal's client group to the U.S. music performing rights organizations. more

Current

Television Music License Committee Television Music License Committee v. ASCAP Represent the nation’s commercial local television broadcasters in their music license dealings with ASCAP, BMI and SESAC. Have negotiated industry-wide licenses and litigated antitrust and rate court proceedings on their behalf.

University of Pennsylvania

J.D.

1973

Dartmouth College

B.A.

1970

Publication

Publication

Publication

Terrorism and Civil Liberties (Vail, Colorodo, June 26, 2003) Moderator

The Copyrights Royalty Arbitration Panel Structure and Process (Washington, DC, June 13, 2002) Capitol Hill Hearing Testimony, Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel Oversight

First Amendment/Child Pornography, Court TV (New York, June 07, 2002)

Regulating the Creativity Market: Legal Aspects of Arts and Entertainment. Sponsored by the Penn Law IP Group. (Philadelphia, April 02, 2002)