Primary Practice Areas
Civil Litigation
Corporate Law
Intellectual Property
Professional Liability
Admissions
- All Courts in the State of California
- U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
- Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
Education
- J.D., University of California, Los Angeles
- B.A., University of California, Berkeley, high honors
Keith G. Adams
Director
Mr. Adams represents individuals and businesses in all phases of civil litigation with
a focus on corporate and insurance litigation, intellectual property, and professional
liability. Mr. Adams counsels clients in a variety of matters related to copyright and
trademark infringement defense, rights of publicity, defamation, breach of contract,
employment and professional malpractice claims.
Prior to joining Murphy Pearson Bradley & Feeney, Mr. Adams worked on high profile
intellectual property disputes, including copyright termination rights, copyright
infringement and entertainment contract disputes, primarily in federal court in
California and New York.
Highlights
- Mr. Adams represented a large online company that was sued for copyright infringement. He represented the defendant at trial and ultimately they were found liable for damages in an amount that was a fraction of what the Plaintiff sought. After trial, Mr. Adams convinced the court to further reduce damages, vacate an injunction, and deny the plaintiff recovery of any attorney's fees.
- Mr. Adams has been an integral part of teams that have secured numerous
favorable settlements on behalf of copyright holders and their heirs.
- Mr. Adams has also successfully represented and defended numerous
small and medium-sized businesses and individuals accused of copyright
and trademark infringement.
Representative Matters
- Represented and obtained an amicable resolution for defendants in
connection with the use of a high-profile celebrities' name and likeness.
- Represented an individual accused of trademark and copyright infringement,
as well as defamation, in connection with opening a new business, resolving
the case shortly after a successful motion to dismiss.
- Represented a restaurant chain accused of trademark infringement,
obtaining a favorable settlement after defeating a motion for a preliminary
injunction.
- Represented a charitable trust in connection with claims of underpayment of
contractual royalties by an entertainment company, obtaining a favorable
settlement.
Selected Publications
Selected Presentations
- Intellectual Property Litigation: An Introduction, presented to private insurance carrier client, co-presented with Timothy J. Halloran, February 23, 2018
Professional and Community Contributions
- Beverly Hills Bar Association
- California Lawyers for the Arts
Published Appellate and U.S. District Court Decisions
- DC Comics v. Pac. Pictures Corp., 706 F.3d 1009, 1011 (9th Cir. 2013) -
Obtained ruling that rulings under California's anti-SLAPP were appealable
collateral orders in federal court.
- DC Comics v. Pac. Pictures Corp., 938 F. Supp. 2d 941, 944 (C.D. Cal.
2013) - Won summary judgment in favor of attorney-defendant sued for
tortious interference.
- Siegel v. Warner Bros. Entm't Inc., 658 F. Supp. 2d 1036 (C.D. Cal. 2009),
690 F. Supp. 2d 1048, 1050 (C.D. Cal. 2009) - Obtained series of favorable
rulings that numerous works by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the co-
creators of Superman, were not "works for hire" under the 1909 Copyright
Act and that errors in notices of termination under the Copyright Act were
"harmless error."
- Ray Charles Found. v. Robinson, 919 F. Supp. 2d 1054 (C.D. Cal. 2013) -
Won dismissal of state-law tort claims brought against the children of Ray
Charles after they brought notices of termination under the Copyright Act.
- Greg Young Publ'g, Inc. v. Zazzle, Inc., __ F. Supp. 3d ___ (C.D. Cal. May
1, 2017) - Won summary judgment that copyright infringement plaintiff
lacked standing as to numerous works and that the DMCA could apply to
the online portions of the defendant's business model.
Academic Distinctions
- Editor, UCLA Law Review
- Chief Submissions Editor, UCLA Entertainment Law Review
- Honors in Film
Pro Hac Vice
- Southern District of New York