Moses Singer

Partner

Toby Butterfield is a Partner in Moses Singer's Litigation and Intellectual Property, Entertainment/Media & Technology practice groups. He has over 30 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, software and technology products.

Toby's recent work includes litigating licensing and related disputes on behalf of owners of copyright, trademark and related technology rights in the software, consumer goods, and electronics industries.  He recently successfully represented a software publisher in a large royalty dispute; a motion picture distributor in defense of copyright infringement claims; and various Broadway producers in successfully resolving disputes with investors, organizations and underlying rights owners.  He successfully defended off-Broadway and worldwide theatre producers in a music rights dispute leading to a jury trial of the $125 million claim.  He also litigated for and defended various "over the top" TV broadcasters in copyright and related disputes with numerous foreign and domestic television channels.  Toby also defended a group of on-line pharmacies in a large case concerning false advertising, trademark, fraud and RICO claims concerning alleged grey market goods.  He has defended various book publishers, magazine publishers, motion picture distributers and producers in various large copyright litigations; and he obtained a fair use dismissal of copyright infringement claims against theater producers concerning a parody play. He has represented AMS Osram Sylvania, Microsoft, Viacom, ASCAP, The New York Times, Blue Man Group, Cirque du Soleil, JetBlue, Joan Jett, and Simon & Schuster.  He has successfully litigated all manner of other claims for and against film producers and distributors, theater producers, technology and software companies, and professional sports leagues and teams.  He has obtained injunctions and seizure orders against counterfeiters, for example for magazine publishers and for well-known producers of a variety 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, magazines, documentaries, theatrical productions and advertising copy.

One of Toby’s favorite matters is the jury trial that he handled for Blue Man Group in a music rights dispute several years ago:  the plaintiff claimed to be owed $125 million in royalties for rights he claimed to own in music used in live performances over decades. Toby and his team handled the defense of the case for all parties from when the first claim letter arrived through jury trial.  They won summary dismissal of nearly all claims, and resolved the only remaining claim via a settlement involving the insurer. Toby recently advised Schirmer Theatrical, part of music publisher Wise Music Corporation, concerning a dispute with commercial Broadway producers over music rights for a production in development, clearing his client’s rights in the disputed title and music. Toby also recently represented Italian software manufacturer, Zextras S.r.L in litigation against its U.S. distributor Synacor Corporation in Zextras S.r.L. v. Synacor, pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.  The case, which settled while our client’s motion for summary judgment was pending, concerned claims for copyright infringement, breach of contract and related claims for unpaid royalties owed by defendant for worldwide distribution of our client’s software.  Toby represents Mansueto Ventures, publisher of Inc. Magazine and Fast Company Magazine, concerning worldwide protection of its trademarks and other rights, including infringement litigation against counterfeiters based in India, and in defense of a libel case brought by the subject of an article in one of its magazines, amongst other matters.

Toby writes and speaks frequently for bar associations and industry organizations. He is Lecturer in Law at Columbia Law School, where he has taught a seminar on Social Media Law and Regulation since 2014 with Kai Falkenberg, US General Counsel for The Guardian Newspapers. For many years, he co-chaired and moderated at the Entertainment Business Law Seminar during the annual CMJ Music Festival at NYU (now called 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, also with Kai Falkenberg. His articles on Fair Use, Copyright Termination, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and other hot topics have been published by the Copyright Society of the USA, ABA's Landslide magazine, Media Law Resource Center and other bar associations and publications, and regularly appear in Moses Singer’s IP Newsletter. He has lectured at legal and television industry conferences all over the world, and taught Media and Entertainment Law at Cardozo Law School.

Toby served as President of MLRC's Defense Counsel Section, and chaired both its Executive Committee and Media Copyright and Trademark Committee.  He chaired the New York City Bar Association's Committees on Entertainment Law and on State Courts of Superior Jurisdiction; chaired WNYC Radio's Community Advisory Board; and served as Administrator of the New York State Supreme Court Screening Panel for Democratic Party judicial candidates in New York County. He has been listed as a Superlawyer for more than 15 years, and selected as one of the Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America, in the inaugural Lawdragon List of 500 Leading Global IP Lawyers.

Treasurer, Media Law Resource Center’s Defense Counsel Section Co-Chair, Media Law Resource Center's Media Copyright and Trademark Committee Former chair, New York City Bar's Entertainment Law Committee Member, NYS Bar Association’s Communications and Media Committees Former chair, New York City Bar's Committee on State Courts of Superior Jurisdiction Member, AIPLA, NYSBA, Copyright Society of the USA.

Inns of Court School of Law Bar Exam New York University School of Law (LL.M.) Christ Church, Oxford University (B.A., (Hons:))