Eric Schwartz

Eric Schwartz has over 30 years of experience as a copyright attorney counseling clients on U.S. and foreign copyright laws - including rights, exceptions (fair use), ownership, and enforcement issues. His clients include creators, producers and users of traditional and new media in the film, recorded music, music publishing, book publishing, videogame, and business software industries. He has served as production counsel for large and small-budgeted feature and documentary films and musical recordings, and has negotiated complex entertainment transactions involving music (recordings and compositions), film, books, as well as providing chain of title reviews, and drafting talent and detailed rights agreements, and done extensive work in particular on copyright termination and re-negotiation matters. Eric has served as an expert witness on a variety of copyright issues in numerous cases in federal (and state) courts, and as an appellate and trial litigation strategist. As a former senior attorney and Acting General Counsel of the U.S. Copyright Office he also advises clients on Copyright Office registration, recordation and related matters. Eric is an expert on film and recorded music archival legal (i.e., “back catalog”) and preservation issues, and has been an adjunct professor of copyright law, music licensing, and international copyright law at Georgetown University Law Center and American University, Washington College of Law, and is a frequent lecturer.