Melinda Eades LeMoine

Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP

Los Angeles

Copyright litigation

Before LeMoine became an attorney herself, she worked as a private investigator exclusively for lawyers. She investigated the use of intellectual property, and trademarks in particular.

"I would go out and develop facts about how someone was using or misusing a particular trademark. That was one of the things that led me to law school, because I wanted to know why they wanted to know these things," she said.

Now, LeMoine handles high-stakes intellectual property disputes for clients in the media and entertainment industry.

In one recent case, she defended The Walt Disney Co. against a Chilean songwriter that brought a copyright infringement action involving the song "Let it Go" from the movie "Frozen." Ciero v. The Walt Disney Co. et al., 17-CV08544 (C.D. Cal. filed Nov. 23, 2017).

In the 2017 lawsuit, Jaime Ciero alleged that the film's Oscar-winning song copied his 2008 song, "Volar." The complaint said there were "striking similarities" between the two tracks, in their note combinations, hooks and melodies. The plaintiff claimed a share in the profits from the movie, music and related consumer products.

LeMoine defended against the claim on several grounds. Despite the movie's release in 2013, Ciero waited four years to bring any claim of infringement. The statute of limitations for copyright infringement actions is three years. And there was substantial evidence that songwriters Bobby Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez independently created "Let It Go."

"Access was a big issue. The song had been played in South America, but there would've been substantial issues in trying to show that anyone had heard that song in the United States," LeMoine said. "Also, it was not substantially similar. Their complaint focused on whether a four-note sequence in the chorus was the same. But we argued that sequence had appeared in all sorts of other works that predated both songs."

Ciero agreed to drop the case in April 2019.

In addition to co-chairing the firm's Women's Initiative, LeMoine serves on the board of directors for Just Detention International, a health and human rights organization that seeks to end sexual abuse in detention.

"Fighting sexual assault in prison is a fixable problem," she said. "If you have prison leadership that wants to make a change, we have the power to put systems in place to make sure people are safe -- and we have that moral obligation."

-- Jennifer Chung Klam