Jason T. Lueddeke

LOS ANGELES - Jason T. Lueddeke truly enjoys representing entertainment artists, executives and companies in litigation. Currently, he is part of the team defending eight-time Grammy-winning songwriter Philip Lawrence in several lawsuits. Three of those suits are a dispute over the ownership of the famous Record Plant Recording Studios in Hollywood, where iconic albums from the Eagles' "Hotel California" to Beyoncé's "Lemonade" were produced.

"It's a procedural labyrinth," Lueddeke said. As the lead associate in the litigation, he was responsible for drafting extensive briefs in a trio of successful motions. Moi v. Lawrence, 18STCV08191 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed Dec. 11, 2018).

"Just to be involved in litigation about a property with such a storied, amazing history has been really cool," Lueddeke said.

He also is helping defend Lawrence in litigation brought by Mickey Shapiro. The famed Hollywood attorney claims he is owed a $4 million fee from the nearly $100 million sale of Lawrence's music publishing catalog, which includes many of Bruno Mars' hits among others. Lueddeke drafted the brief for a summary judgment motion filed last month.

"It's our position that he did not play a role in the transaction," he said of Shapiro. The case raises "a lot of interesting issues of contract interpretation." Shapiro v. Lawrence, 20STCV20818 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed June 2, 2020).

Lueddeke took a very different type of case through trial recently in Delaware Chancery Court. He represented producer William Fay, a founder and former executive of Legendary Entertainment, in an action to examine the financial records of an LLC that he and other executives set up to hold their investments in the well-known film production company. Fay v Bracca LLC 2019-0834 (Del. Chanc. Crt, filed Oct. 18, 2019).

The suit was a "books and records" case, an expedited procedure for an investor to examine a company's financial documents. The virtual trial lasted three hours, and Lueddeke's argument took up half of it.

He won.

Lueddeke said the case was interesting because it came at a time when the case law on the topic was shifting. "That area of the law was actually really fascinating despite being a rather mundane subject matter," he said.

In more traditional entertainment and intellectual property litigation, he played an important role in drafting a favorable settlement agreement last spring for client Spyglass Media Group. It had purchased a library of films that included "Amityville: The Awakening." The widow of the author of the novel, "The Amityville Horror," claimed the movie infringed her copyright. Anson v. Weinstein, 2:17-cv-08360 (C.D. Cal., filed Nov. 15, 2017).

Last year, he wrote and argued a motion for summary judgment for a direct marketing company being sued by an infomercial production company for additional royalties. The case involved some tricky copyright issues, including whether federal copyright preemption can be a defense to an unjust enrichment claim when the alleged unjust conduct occurred both in the U.S. and other countries. His work contributed to his client obtaining a favorable settlement, finalized early this year. Stanley Jacobs Productions Ltd. v. Thane, 2:19-cv-03125 (C.D. Cal., filed April 22, 2019).

In addition to his entertainment litigation practice, Lueddeke also takes on pro bono matters. Recently, those have included assisting immigrants with naturalization and green card applications. "I was born and raised in Los Angeles, so immigration issues have been front and center my whole life," he said.