Robert E. Allen

Robert Allen likes to say he has an affinity for helping creative people protect their intellectual property. “I try to fight for people who have had their work stolen,” he said.

As the head of business affairs for music behemoth Universal Music Publishing Group and its predecessor for 16 years, he is best known for representing creators in that business.

For instance, for a time, he was one of the attorneys representing Flo and Eddie in litigation that ultimately led to changes in federal law that protects pre-1972 records. He also has represented Quincy Jones and currently represents Michael Jackson’s mother and siblings in several matters he can’t discuss.

In addition, about a quarter or third of his practice is handling entertainment-related transactions, such as the sale of music publishing rights.

But lately, Allen has had a lot of cases about photographs or photographers. He represents a guitar company whose website photo of a handcrafted electric guitar showed up on the website of a major guitar retailer for years. “People just think it’s OK to take other people’s things and not pay them for them,” he said. “It’s just so frustrating for [the creators].”

The case is on appeal at the 1st Circuit on issues including whether to follow the discovery rule or injury rule with the statute of limitations. “Based upon the oral argument, I don’t see us not winning that one,” he said. D’Pergo Custom Guitars Inc. v. Sweetwater Sound Inc., 21-1645 (1st Cir., filed Aug. 19, 2021).

In another case, he represents a photographer suing the estate of Muhammad Ali and its successor for displaying nearly three dozen iconic photos of the boxer across their social media long after their license to the photos expired. The estate’s successor also licensed some of the photos to other companies, including high-end watchmaker Tag Heuer, he said.

The defense argues the copyrights are invalid because of problems with their original registration, which Allen dismisses as thin. Gaffney v. Muhammad Ali Enterprises LLC, 1:18-cv-08770 (S.D. N.Y., filed Sept. 25, 2018).

Last year, he settled a lawsuit against Sinclair Broadcast Group for using a photographer’s pictures of fanged “vampire cats” on 50 of its stations’ websites without permission. He also settled a lawsuit against Procter & Gamble for continuing to use a photo of a finalist on “The Batchelor” in ads promoting Downey products after its license expired.

A case against prominent L.A. tattoo artist Kat Von D for copying a famous photo of Miles Davis is stayed to await a Supreme Court decision on fair use. Sedlik v. Von Drachenberg, 2:21-cv-01102 (C.D. Cal., filed Feb. 7, 2021).

“I feel like I only do interesting cases,” Allen said. “That’s because copyright is very interesting to me.”

— Don DeBenedictis