James M. Chadwick

Partner

Overview
Experience
Honors
Memberships
Articles
Speeches

James Chadwick is a partner in the Entertainment, Media and Technology and Business Trials Practice Groups in Sheppard Mullin's San Francisco office.

Areas of Practice

Mr. Chadwick's practice focuses on media law and media defense litigation, including copyright and trademark litigation, First Amendment and privacy law, and access and newsgathering law, as well as general civil litigation. Prior to joining Sheppard Mullin, he was a partner with the firm of DLA Piper Rudnick.

Education

J.D. Santa Clara University School of Law, 1991, summa cum laude
M.A., San Francisco State University 1985
B.A., University of California at Santa Cruz, 1979, cum laude

Admissions

California

Representative Matters

Representation of clients in actions in copyright claims arising from the distribution of print publications, Internet content distribution, and distribution of software. Representative cases include:

Religious Technology Center v. Netcom, et al.

Part of the team that represented Netcom in a seminal cases regarding copyright and the Internet, Religious Technology Center v. Netcom, 907 F. Supp. 1361 (N.D. Cal. 1995). The decision of United States District Court Judge Ronald Whyte in this case remains one of the principal cases governing potential liability of internet service providers for the distribution of content posted by users.

Perfect10, Inc. v. GUBA, LLC

Defended internet service that provides World Wide Web interface to Usenet content in copyright infringement action brought by purveyor of pornographic photographs. Brought in as substitute counsel, and obtained favorable settlement shortly after filing motion for summary judgment based on DMCA defenses.

Nguyen v. San Jose Mercury News

Defended the San Jose Mercury News in copyright infringement action against the Mercury News' Vietnamese-language publication, Viet Mercury. Obtained dismissal of related state law claims, and early favorable settlement.

Paramount Pictures, et al. v. RDestiny, LLC

Defended distributor of video reproduction software in action alleging violation of the anticircumvention provisions of the DMCA. Obtained early favorable settlement.

Harris v. San Jose Mercury News

Defended the San Jose Mercury News in copyright infringement action brought by photographer whose photograph was used in the Mercury News without permission. Obtained jury verdict in favor of the San Jose Mercury News on fair use grounds, after jury trial. The jury deliberated for less than forty minutes.

Representation of clients in the litigation of numerous cases that have resulted in important First Amendment or intellectual property decisions, including the following:

Sipple v. Foundation for National Progress

Defended Mother Jones Magazine in a defamation action brought by a prominent political campaign consultant. Motion to strike the complaint pursuant to California’s anti-SLAPP statute was granted, the judgment was affirmed on appeal, and attorneys’ fees and costs were awarded to Mother Jones.

In re Willon

Represented television reporter and news director in a precedent-setting case regarding the application of the California Shield Law to investigations of alleged violations of court-imposed gag order. Judgment of contempt against the reporter and news director was reversed.

Montana v. San Jose Mercury News

Represented the San Jose Mercury News in a precedent-setting case establishing that a newspaper’s distribution of posters reproducing front pages prominently featuring a celebrity athlete was protected by the First Amendment and California law.

James v. San Jose Mercury News, Inc.

Represented the San Jose Mercury News in an important case regarding the scope of the protection for opinion and the application of the actual malice doctrine under California law. Summary judgment for the newspaper was affirmed on appeal.

Pursuing litigation under state and federal open records and open meetings laws on behalf of both media and individual clients. Cases that have resulted in published decisions include Lissner v. U.S. Customs Service, and San Jose Mercury News v. U.S. District Court.

Providing ongoing copyright compliance, newsgathering, and pre-publication advice to media clients such as the San Jose Mercury News, Salon, and Mother Jones Magazine.

Representative Clients

San Jose Mercury News, Inc., Knight Ridder, Inc., Mother Jones Magazine, Salon Media Group, Daily News Group, NBC

Honors

Best Lawyers in America, 2008, 2009
Northern California Super Lawyers, San Francisco Magazine, 2007
James Madison Freedom of Information Award
One of the country's leading media and entertainment lawyers, Chambers & Partners' 2006 and 2008
America's Leading Lawyers for Business, Chambers USA

Memberships

Member, Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the California First Amendment Coalition
Former chair and current vice-chair, Media, Privacy, and Defamation Law Committee of the Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section of the American Bar Association
Member, ABA Forum on Communications Law and the Media Law Resource Center

Articles

Images of Fair Use: A Fair Use Jury Trial, January 3, 2007

Conflict in the Public Interest: Defamation and the Role of Content in the Wake of Dun & Bradstreet v. Greenmoss Builders, 31 S. Clara L. Rev. 997 (1991)
Potential Liability on the Internet, Santa Clara County Bar Association, 1995, with Edward P. Davis, Jr. and Judy Alexander
Internet Privacy: A Tale of Two Cookies, ABA TTIPS Media, Privacy & Defamation Law Committee Newsletter, Winter, 2002, with Lan Hang
Single Publication Rule Governs Online Publications, ABA TTIPS Media, Privacy & Defamation Law Committee Newsletter, Summer 2003, with Danielle Van Wert
Potential Media Liability for Publishing False or Misleading Advertisements, ABA TTIPS Media, Privacy & Defamation Law Committee Newsletter, Summer 2004, with Chi-Chi Onyeagbako
"First Amendment Access and Trade Secrets," in Trade Secret Litigation and Protection in California, State Bar of California (2005), with Guylyn Cummins and Noelle Roux
MLRC 50-State Survey: Media Privacy and Related Law, Media Law Resource Center (2005) (Contributor to California survey)
Communications Decency Act: Libel Immunity Debate, ABA TTIPS Media, Privacy & Defamation Law Committee Newsletter, Summer 2005, with Alison Norris
Images of Fair Use: A Fair Use Jury Trial, Communications Lawyer (Volume 24/Issue 3-Fall 2006), with Gary Bostwick

Intellectual Property Law Blog Articles

"Two Recent Decisions Reframe the DMCA Discussion", October 7, 2008

Speeches

Privacy Law conference, presented by the Practising Law Institute, San Francisco, June 2-3, 2008 (presentation focusing on privacy issues in dealing with civil discovery requests and subpoenas)
New Media Law Roundtable, Sponsored by the San Francisco Recorder, San Francisco, 2002 (presentation focusing on legal challenges for online publishers and service providers, including copyright, DMCA, defamation, and privacy issues)

Events

Legal Frontiers in Digital Media, May 15, 2008, A conference on the emerging legal issues surrounding digital publishing and content distribution.