David Halberstadter

Sometimes colleagues might walk into Halberstadter’s office and find him watching a movie or reading a novel. He’s actually working.

Part of his practice is counseling and advising major studios and networks about projects they’re considering. He provides critical “chain of title” analyses of properties his clients might acquire to make sure they can safely produce and distribute their productions free from copyright or defamation allegations.

“Somebody has to read the original source material and watch the other derivative works and tell the studio what things they can’t do. And I get to do that,” Halberstadter said. “This is probably the most fun part of my work.”

Other times, he provides his clients comprehensive script reviews and rights analyses. For instance, one project he is advising on currently is the development of a television limited series based on a successful podcast about a true crime.

He also handles litigation for entertainment companies, studios and networks. Much of that deals with allegations that a client has stolen the plaintiff’s script, novel or life story. For instance, he represents cable channel Starz and others against a claim that the series “P-Valley” copies from a play that also is about Black cabaret dancers and strippers. Halberstadter noted that films or series describing several dancers’ lives and problems have been “at least eight or nine times.” He has filed a motion to dismiss. Gilbert-Daniels v. Lions Gate Entertainment Corp., 1:22-cv-00140 (N.D. Ga., filed Jan. 12, 2022).

Halberstadter is representing Starz, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, CBS and others in several unrelated lawsuits, each alleging that the series “Power” was copied from the plaintiffs’ novels, or in one case, life story. “It would be easier to write it yourself than to copy from five different people,” he said about the cases.

The series is about a Black drug kingpin in a big city who wants to escape that business and get into legitimate ones. “It’s not an uncommon story. And the characters who would populate a story like that are not uncommon either,” Halberstadter said.

A judge in Philadelphia heard his motion to dismiss one of the cases in February. Interestingly, the judge had been a federal drug prosecutor for 20 years. “She recognized every alleged similarity between the works as something that happens for real,” Halberstadter said. The judge granted the motion. Walker v. Kemp, 2:21-cv-00528 (E.D. Pa., filed Feb. 4, 2021).

Last May, he won dismissal of another of this type of case against ViacomCBS alleging that an episode of the series “Bull” copied the pilot script about a Black social media influencer the plaintiff had submitted to a writing contest. Halberstadter also won $280,000 in fees and costs. The case is now on appeal. Washington v. ViacomCBS, 21- 56373 (9th Cir., filed Dec. 22, 2021).

His pro bono work for many years has included pre-publication review and clearance of every issue of Ms. Magazine. “In the process, I get to learn about all the issues impacting women globally. I feel good about that because I have a wife and two daughters, and I like to be up on these things.”

– Don DeBenedictis