Toby M.J. Butterfield

Toby M.J. Butterfield is a partner in Moses & Singer's Intellectual Property and Litigation groups.

Mr. Butterfield has 25 years of experience litigating and counseling on copyright, trademark, defamation, software and digital media, and commercial matters. His clients include media and entertainment companies, motion picture and theater producers, major brand owners, technology companies and designers of luxury goods. His recent work includes successfully representing an "over the top" TV broadcaster in a distribution dispute with numerous Russian broadcasters; successful defense of a well-known theater production in a jury trial concerning music royalty payments; representation of a regional on-line pharmacy in cases concerning false advertising, trademark, fraud and RICO claims; defending book publishers in copyright litigations; and obtaining a fair use dismissal of copyright infringement claims against theater producers concerning a parody play. He has successfully dismissed claims against film producers and distributors, theater producers, technology and software companies, and has obtained injunctions and seizure orders for magazine publishers and a well-known producer of children's TV programming. He regularly counsels IP owners and performs pre-publication and pre-broadcast review of content for publishers of books, motion pictures, newspapers and magazines.

Mr. Butterfield writes and speaks frequently for bar associations and industry organizations. He is Lecturer in Law at Columbia Law School, where he has conducted a seminar on Social Media Law and Regulation since 2014. He co-chaired the Entertainment Business Law Seminar during the annual CMJ Music Festival at NYU, which is now MONDO.NYC. He has lectured at AIPLA's annual national conference and to PLI on copyright fair use, and authored the first chapter of Counseling Content Providers in the Digital Age on defamation for the New York State Bar Association. He has published articles written for the Copyright Society of the USA, ABA's Landslide magazine, Media Law Resource Center and other bar associations and publications regularly on Fair Use, Copyright Termination, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and other hot topics. He has lectured at legal and television industry conferences all over the world and taught Media and Entertainment Law at Cardozo Law School. Mr. Butterfield currently co-chairs MLRC's Media Copyright and Trademark Committee, and chaired the New York City Bar's Committee on Entertainment Law, its Committee on State Courts of Superior Jurisdiction, WNYC Radio's Community Advisory Board, and was Administrator of the New York State Supreme Court Screening Panel for Democratic Party judicial candidates in New York County.

He has appeared on BBC World News, Forbes TV, and been quoted by the New York Times, The Hollywood Reporter, Forbes, Law360 and many other news and legal publications.

Toby is listed in the Best Lawyers in America ^® for IP Litigation and has been designated a Superlawyer since 2009.

Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Butterfield was a partner at Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz PC.

Representative Matters

Among the many litigations and proceedings handled by Mr. Butterfield, he has successfully:

• Defended Blue Man Group from claims by a former band member and co-composer who disputed royalties paid to him from the "Blue Man Group" show.  Secured a dismissal of the majority of his claims at the outset in a ruling that was affirmed on appeal.   Won granting summary judgment dismissing the remaining claim for breach of fiduciary duty.  Pai v. Blue Man Group Publishing, 2018 WL 1363410 (N.Y. Co. March 16, 2018).  The ruling garnered numerous news reports. 
• Represented Magazine Publishers Association as amicus in litigation concerning the legality of "framing" under the Copyright Act.
• Represented heir in dispute over bequest of copyrighted woks by deceased well-known dramatist.
• Represented television producer in disputes concerning worldwide use of format of television series.

Related Events

• COVID-19 Legal and Other Concerns for International Owners of Businesses in the United States May 7, 2020
• Toby M.J. Butterfield, Shari A. Alexander and Benjamin Danieli on New York City Bar Panel May 6, 2020
• .J. Butterfield Addresses 2020 Copyright Society of the USA Conference February 15, 2020
• Toby Butterfield To Speak On A.I. At MONDO NYC Music Tech & Law Symposium October 18, 2019
• Toby Butterfield will address the NYC Bar Association Committee on Trademarks and Unfair Competition May 7, 2019
• Toby Butterfield to Speak at the 8th Annual Legal Aspects of Producing: An Inside Approach to Navigating the Theatrical World March 28, 2019
• When Worlds Collide: Emerging Trends in Media & Intellectual Property Litigation November 12, 2018
• MLRC Media Law Conference 2018 September 26, 2018
• Media & Communications Law: Litigation and Legislation June 25, 2018
• Point Break? Parody Through the Lens of Live Theater March 15, 2018

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• U.S. Government Seeks Public Comments On Updating Laws Governing Artificial Intelligence November 12, 2019
• Supreme Court Asked to Decide Copyright Protection for Software Program Interfaces* February 4, 2019
• Mission Product Holdings v. Tempnology Heads to Supreme Court for Trademark Bankruptcy Ruling November 5, 2018
• Moving Beyond Transformativeness: How Courts Evaluate The Purposes and Character of Secondary Uses October 19, 2018
• Social Media and the First Amendment: the Implications of the Court’s Decision in Knight First Amendment Institute v. Trump June 11, 2018
• California Appeals Court Dismisses Olivia de Havilland’s “Feud” with FX April 12, 2018
• Federal Appeals Court Restates Copyright Fair Use Standard March 12, 2018

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