Daniel L. Warshaw

Warshaw, a name partner at class action boutique Pearson, Simon & Warshaw LLP, focuses on complex litigation involving antitrust violations, high-tech products, automotive parts and false advertising. He has represented employees and employers in class actions, including wage and hour, misclassification and other Labor Code violations.

Like most, he's been sitting out the coronavirus pandemic at home--until late May. "I went into my actual office today and sat at my actual desk," he said May 20. "I recalled how that's been a big part of my life."

The stay-isolated approach to avoiding the virus "could change the perception and model of law firms," Warshaw said. "People are working from home, meeting their deadlines and behaving responsibly. As a litigating attorney, I'm more productive if I am off by myself and not being bothered all day. But the process of talking casually with young lawyers in my firm and bouncing ideas around has value too. All of us are trying to find that middle ground now."

Even with courtrooms dark, litigation rolls on. In April, a federal judge in Oakland granted class certification in a rare copyright class action over claims that the owners of the late rock concert promoter Bill Graham's archives made unauthorized sales of sound and audiovisual recordings. The plaintiffs include performers and composers who allege that their work was recorded without their consent. Kihn v. Bill Graham Archives, 4:17-cv-05343 (N.D. Cal., filed Sept. 14, 2017)

The named plaintiff is Greg Kihn, the leader of a 1970s band that opened arena-sized shows for the Grateful Dead, the Rolling Stones and Journey.

"Bill Graham recorded a lot of live shows. When he died his estate was purchased by William Sagan, who came up with a business model to exploit them via a website called Wolfgang's Vault," a reference to Graham's birth name, Wolfgang Grajonca, Warshaw said. The site sells music and interview downloads that allegedly infringe on the plaintiff performers' and composers' copyrights.

"I'm no copyright expert," Warshaw said, "but I brushed up. These are bootleg recordings. Any copyrights registered by the people running the site are the fruit of a poisoned tree."

U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers wrote in her class certification order, "The court finds the burden to establish that the recordings at issue were authorized by the performers ought to be placed on the party asserting the recordings that were authorized, i.e., the defendants. To hold otherwise would require plaintiffs to prove the negative..."

The defense is appealing the order. "We feel very strongly that their appeal will be rejected," Warshaw said. "This is a very interesting case that merges the class action and copyright disciplines."

-- John Roemer