Our Approach
Dorf Nelson & Zauderer's Media, Entertainment & Technology Group brings together sophisticated commercial counsel and deep industry relationships to serve clients across major sectors of the entertainment and technology industries where intellectual property rights, talent relationships, and platform economics often intersect. The Group is led by David Chidekel, a Partner in the Corporate Department and one of the country's most recognized entertainment attorneys, named multiple times to Billboard's annual Top Music Attorneys list and featured in Variety's Legal Impact Report.
Our attorneys work with premier talent, executives, and businesses engaged in the global pop culture marketplace. We handle the full spectrum of complex commercial transactions, as well as resolve disputes through pre-litigation, mediation/arbitration, and/or litigation. A meaningful part of our work involves guiding high-growth startups through formation, corporate governance, employment and compensation arrangements, equity and debt financings, and IP protection, particularly those developing technologies to legally distribute and monetize content across decentralized online platforms, as well as enhance super fan engagement and activation. We are equally at home advising Fortune 500 entertainment companies, independent producers, and first-time founders navigating their initial term sheet.
What distinguishes Dorf Nelson & Zauderer's Media, Entertainment & Technology Group is the combination of deep transactional experience with genuine fluency in the business dynamics of the industries we serve. The head of the group, Mr. Chidekel, has not only advised clients from the outside but has operated at the executive level within iconic entertainment and technology companies, understanding firsthand the pressures, the pace, and the relationship dynamics that determine whether deals get done. We also help clients navigate pivotal turning points where significant and sometimes radical changes in the presentation, delivery, and monetization of content occur, creating new ventures, complex licensing structures, and strategic partnerships, together with causing business conflicts to arise. Having spent many years working across multiple entertainment industry cycles, we are able to assist our clients with distinguishing between transient trends and enduring transformations.
We are proud to serve our clients as trusted advisors, not just transaction lawyers. Founders, senior executives, boards, managers, and investors rely on us for both legal counsel and broader business strategy — knowing they have an attorney who can navigate a complex licensing negotiation in the morning and think through a company's go-to-market approach in the afternoon. Combined with Dorf Nelson & Zauderer's broader platform across corporate, intellectual property, employment, and finance, clients benefit from a multidisciplinary team.
Our Services
Music
- Outside counsel to major-label and independent record companies and music publishers.
- We structure joint ventures, acquisitions, funding and distribution arrangements, and the full spectrum of recording, publishing, licensing, touring, branding, and rights-acquisition agreements for artists, producers, songwriters, DJs, and management firms.
Film & Television
- Finance counsel and production counsel for television networks, film distributors, and film and television producers.
- We negotiate agreements governing the licensing, sale, and other exploitation of rights for directors, actors, screenwriters, and composers, and serve as sought-after advisors to leading documentary filmmakers.
Digital Media & Technology
- Counsel to digital media companies, interactive content platforms, AR/VR/MR developers, video game publishers, and fintech companies using secure, transparent, blockchain supported digital payments to transform sponsorships for live events from passive marketing to immersive brand activation and fan engagement.
Name, Image & Likeness Rights
- Advertising, branding, sponsorship, and licensing agreements for recording artists, actors, influencers, podcasters, high-net-worth individuals, and athletes in action sports and beyond.
- We represent merchandising, branding, modeling, and fashion companies.
Literary Publishing
- Representation of best-selling authors, graphic novelists, and other creators for book publishing, distribution, literary agency, collaboration, and film and television option, shopping, and attachment agreements.
Emerging Companies & Startups
- End-to-end counsel for entertainment and technology startups from entity formation and governance through seed and venture financings, executive compensation, IP strategy, and commercial deal-making with a focus on companies developing next-generation content distribution and monetization platforms.
Clients We Serve
Our client roster spans the full breadth of the media, entertainment, and technology ecosystem, including:
— Major and independent record labels and production companies
— Digital music and P2P technology companies
— Music publishers and rights administrators
— Video game developers and distributors
— Recording artists, producers, DJs & songwriters
— AR/VR/MR content companies
— Artist management companies and booking agencies
— Fintech and digital payments companies
— Film and television production companies
— Influencers, podcasters & content creators
— Television networks and streaming platforms
— Sports and action sports athletes
— Film distributors and sales agents
— Modeling, branding & fashion companies
— Documentary filmmakers
— Best-selling authors and graphic novelists