Joseph Beck is a partner in the Atlanta office of Kilpatrick Stockton. A graduate of Emory College and Harvard Law School, he is a former trustee of the Copyright Society of the USA, the founder and chair of the Society's Southeast Chapter and is (and for a number of years has been) listed in Best Lawyers in America® for Intellectual Property Law, Entertainment Law and Alternative Dispute Resolution. He is an Adjunct Professor of Intellectual Property Law at Emory University and has lectured on this subject, freedom of speech and entertainment law at Harvard, Stanford, Duke, Texas and other law schools throughout the United States, as well as abroad. Before moving to Atlanta, he produced a television program on the law for a Washington, D.C. television station and developed a mathematical model of the criminal justice system for the Urban Institute in Washington. He is an alumnus of Leadership Atlanta, a member of the Board of Directors of the Georgia First Amendment Foundation, a former member of the Board of Directors of the Alliance Theater and of Georgia Citizens for the Arts, and a recipient of the Emory Medal, the highest award of the Emory Alumni Association. Mr. Beck received the prestigious Burton Award, which recognizes legal writing, for an article in Copyright World. In 2007, Mr. Beck was selected as an advisor to the Intellectual Property Journal of NALSAR, one of the most prestigious law schools in India. PENDING COPYRIGHT CASES · The Author's Guild, et al v. Google Inc. and McGraw-Hill, et al. v. Google Inc. - in the Southern District of New York. The Plaintiffs have sued Google for copyright infringement for scanning books in the libraries at the University of Michigan, Stanford, Harvard, the New York Public Library and Oxford University. Mr. Beck is lead counsel for Google in both cases. REPORTED COPYRIGHT CASES · Faulkner v. National Geographic, 2005 WL 503652 (2nd Cir. 2005). As lead Amici counsel for more than two dozen academic associations (including the American Association for the Advancement of Science), university presses (including Stanford, Duke and Oxford University) and an electronic archive of digitized versions of scholarly literature, Mr. Beck helped convince the 2nd Circuit to affirm the application of §201(c) of the Copyright Act to a CD ROM version of 100 years of National Geographic. · SunTrust Bank v. Houghton Mifflin, 136 F.Supp. 2d 1357 (N.D.Ga. 2001), reversed and remanded 252 F3d 1166 (11th Cir. 2001) and 268 F.3d 1257 (11th Cir. 2001). The Estate of Margaret Mitchell, through SunTrust Bank as Trustee, brought a copyright infringement suit against Houghton Mifflin and obtained a preliminary injunction, prohibiting the publication of the book The Wind Done Gone because of alleged infringement of the copyright in the novel and motion picture Gone With the Wind. On May 25, 2001, and immediately upon conclusion of oral argument by Mr. Beck, a unanimous panel of the Eleventh Circuit, U.S. Court of Appeals, vacated the injunction as an abuse of discretion and unconstitutional prior restraint of speech. On October 10, 2001, the Eleventh Circuit issued a full opinion rejecting the district court's conclusion that the plaintiff was likely to succeed and finding, on the record before the court, that The Wind Done Gone made fair use of Gone With the Wind. SunTrust was represented by Martin Garbus, formerly of the New York firm Frankfort, Garbus, Kurnit, Klein & Selz and by the Atlanta office of the firm Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue. · Rosa Parks v. LaFace Records, 76 F.Supp.2d 775 (E.D.Mich. 1999), aff'd in part, rev'd in part, 329 F.3d 437 (6th Cir. 2003), cert. denied, 2003 WL 22303348 (Dec. 8, 2003). Civil rights icon Rosa Parks filed suit in Detroit against Arista, BMG Entertainment and the "rap" group Outkast for naming their Grammy nominated song "Rosa Parks." The suit alleged violations of the right of publicity and the Lanham Act, defamation and various other state law claims. Mr. Beck moved to dismiss on the grounds that the First Amendment of the United States Constitution protected the right of artists to name creative works in this manner. After briefing and oral argument, the trial court agreed and granted his motion to dismiss the entire complaint. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of five of the seven counts of the complaint but remanded two counts for trial. A second suit was filed in state court in Detroit; Mr. Beck removed the case and defended successfully a motion for remand on the grounds that the Plaintiff fraudulently sought to defeat diversity. 73 U.S.P.Q.2d 1763 (E.D.Mich.) (Dec. 2004). Following two days of mediation, the matter was successfully resolved. Ms. Parks was represented by Johnnie Cochran until his death, and thereafter, by Willie Gary and four other law firms. · Amici Curiae - Lead Counsel for The New York Times Co., Inc., the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, Forbes, the Magazine Publisher's of America, Inc., the Newspaper Association of America, Inc., Gannett Company, Inc., Time Inc., the Times Mirror Company, the Tribune Company, Playboy, Inc., the New Yorker Magazine, Inc., et. al. Mr. Beck was hired by these and other newspaper and magazine companies and organizations to request that the United States Supreme Court grant certiorari to review the decision by the Eleventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Greenberg v. National Geographic Society, et. al. · Estate of Martin Luther King, Jr., Inc. v. CBS, Inc., 194 F.3d 1211 (11th Cir. 1999). Following briefing and oral argument by Mr. Beck, the Eleventh Circuit reversed a district court's finding that Dr. King's copyright in the speech "I Have A Dream" was forfeited when delivered in 1963 at the March on Washington and remanded the case for trial. CBS thereafter agreed to a settlement of the King Estate's claim that CBS infringed copyrights when it used portions of the speech in a documentary by Mike Wallace. CBS was represented by Floyd Abrams of Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP. · Fantasy, Inc. v. LaFace Records, 43 U.S.P.Q. 2d 1700 (N.D. Ca. 1997). The plaintiff sued LaFace Records in San Francisco for infringing the sound recording copyright in "Mister Big Stuff" by using a "sample" in the song "Switch" on the TLC album "Crazy, Sexy, Kool." Mr. Beck successfully moved to dismiss on the grounds that "Mister Big Stuff" was originally recorded prior to the 1972 Sound Recording Amendment to the U.S. Copyright Act. Thereafter, Fantasy filed a California common law claim (California has a statute extending state copyright protection to pre-1972 sound recordings). Mr. Beck again secured a dismissal on the grounds that the statute of limitations (2 years for state law versus 3 years for a federal claim) had expired. Fantasy, Inc. v. LaFace Records, 43 U.S.P.Q. 2d 1959 (N.D. Ca. 1997). Fantasy then brought a new lawsuit in the Eastern District of California, alleging a variety of "new" theories including breach of contract, unjust enrichment and fraud. Following oral argument in Sacramento, the court granted Mr. Beck's motion to dismiss on the grounds of res judicata. Fantasy, Inc. v. LaFace Records, 49 U.S.P.Q. 2d 1148 (E.D. Ca. 1998). · D.C. Comics, Inc. v. Unlimited Monkey Business, Inc., 598 F.Supp. 110 (N.D. Ga. 1984). In response to Mr. Beck's motion, summary judgment was granted for client D.C. Comics, an AOL Time Warner subsidiary, on the grounds that "Superstud" and "Wonder Wench" infringed the copyrighted characters Superman® and Wonder Woman® ; parody defense rejected as a matter of law. · Hustlers, Inc. v. Thomason, 65 USPQ 2d 1037 (N.D. Ga. 2002). The court granted Mr. Beck's motion to dismiss the copyright claim against his client, Sanctuary Music, a co-defendant, on the grounds that Sanctuary held a license from one of the co-authors of each of the plaintiff's songs. · Cooper v. Sony Music Entertainment, Inc., et al., 2002 WL 391693 (S.D. Tex. 2002). The court granted Mr. Beck's motion to dismiss the plaintiff's claims for unjust enrichment, conversion, theft, misapplication of fiduciary property and conspiracy to commit copyright infringement on the grounds of federal preemption pursuant to 17 U.S.C. 301. · Jack C. Keir, Inc. v. Life Office Management Association, Inc., 37 U.S.P.Q. 2d 1411 (E.D. Pa. 1993). Mr. Beck's motion to transfer to Atlanta was granted to his client, following extensive briefing and oral argument, on the grounds that its copyright defense witnesses were key to the issues of "originality" and "substantial similarity" and could not be subpoenaed to the plaintiff's Philadelphia forum. (Case thereafter favorably settled.) · Broadcast Music, Inc. v. The Club Southern Burlesque, Inc., 36 U.S.P.Q. 2d 1664 (N.D. Ga. 1995). Judgment was granted in favor of Mr. Beck's client BMI for "vicarious" copyright infringement; the case affirmed the personal liability for damages and attorneys fees of the corporate defendant's former controlling shareholder and entire board of directors, as well as the corporation itself (aff'd per curiam by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals). · Terrance Hayes v. Ja Rule, et al., 2005 WL 2136946 (M.D.N.C.). Summary Judgment was granted in favor of Mr. Beck's clients, UMG Recordings, Island Def Jam, et al., dismissing the plaintiff's suit for copyright infringement and other torts. · "Dada" v. Sofa Express, Inc., 368 F.Supp.2d 1290 (M.D. Fl. 2005). Plaintiff's claim for punitive damages for copyright infringement was dismissed, in response to Mr. Beck's motion, with the court agreeing that such damages are unavailable for copyright infringement. Thereafter, the dispute was successfully resolved. MEDIATION · Mr. Beck has served as mediator in a number of copyright infringement disputes, involving works ranging from motion pictures to architecture. In addition to his listing for a number of years in Best Lawyers In America® for Alternative Dispute Resolution, he was recognized as a "Power Mediator" in the 2007 issue of The Hollywood Reporter. UNREPORTED CASES · Copyright Infringement - Mr. Beck secured a judgment, damages, attorneys' fees and an injunction against Gannett, Inc. for infringing the "I Have A Dream" copyright belonging to the King Estate in an issue of U.S.A. Today. · Right of Publicity - Mr. Beck secured summary judgment on behalf of the Estate of Martin Luther King against a manufacturer and distributor of refrigerator magnets containing Dr. King's likeness. COPYRIGHT ENFORCEMENT · Mr. Beck secured an extraordinary order enforcing an injunction against further infringement of the copyright in a major motion picture; the district judge in Atlanta granted his motion, following argument, for an order authorizing the seizure in New Jersey (without going through the federal court in New Jersey) of infringing merchandise, including what was then an "unprecedented" provision deputizing Hacksensack, New Jersey off-duty police to enforce the Atlanta judge's order. · Mr. Beck has served as lead counsel in copyright "piracy" cases for the Motion Picture Association of America and for the Recording Industry Association of America. ADDITIONAL PRIOR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ACTIVITIES · U.S. State Department - In 2007, Mr. Beck delivered a prestigious series of lectures throughout India on optical media piracy and enforcement issues, patents, data protection, copyright and trademark protections before students of film and music; chambers of commerce; music industry leaders; "Bollywood" - leading directors, producers and distributors of film; and members of the police force. Mr. Beck delivered a similar series of lectures in 2007 for the State Department in Minsk, Belarus. · U.S. State Department - On three occasions, Mr. Beck delivered a series of lectures on intellectual property law in St. Petersburg and Moscow on the topic "Russian Adherence to International Copyright Relations: Advantages, Cautions and Challenges." State Bar of Georgia - Reporter for several years on Copyright Law Developments for the Intellectual Property Section of the State Bar of Georgia. Former Chair, Copyright Committee, Intellectual Property Section, State Bar of Georgia. · New York Law School - Debated opposing counsel Marty Garbus regarding the "Gone With the Wind v. The Wind Done Gone" case. Copyright Society of the U.S.A - Addressed an audience of an estimated 100 copyright lawyers in San Diego at the Society's Mid-Year Meeting. · American Bar Association Forum on the First Amendment - Addressed their meeting in Boca Raton. · University of Texas Law School Intellectual Property Symposium - Spoke on "Latest Trends in Copyright Law." · Los Angeles Copyright Society - Twice addressed the L.A. Copyright Society in Los Angeles. · The District of Columbia Bar - Discussed the evolving role of the fair use defense in copyright law at a panel in Washington, D.C. · American Bar Association Section of Intellectual Property Law - Spoke at the Summer Intellectual Property Law Conference in Philadelphia to talk about "Fair Use of Copyrighted Material: SunTrust and Beyond." · American Intellectual Property Law Association - Addressed the annual meeting in Washington and the mid-year meeting in New Orleans in 2007 on the subject of the fair use/transformative use doctrine. · Vanderbilt Law School Symposium - Spoke on the subject of fair use under the Copyright Act. · Vanderbilt Law School - In 2007, Mr. Beck addressed the law school student body, faculty and Nashville copyright community on the Google Book Search litigation. · Duke University - Panelist for the "Hot Topics" Copyright Seminar. · Stanford Law and Technology Association - Presentation delivered on October 28, 2002. · Cardozo Law School/BMI - Moot Court Judge (with the General Counsel of the U.S. Copyright Office and a U.S. District Judge. · 2003 Technology Law Institute - Presentation of "Copyright Update", October 8, 2003. · Practicing Law Institute-Chair, "Copyright Law 2003" October 9, 2003. · Entertainment Law Seminar - Presentation of "Hot Topics in Copyright Litigation", February 6, 2004. · Intellectual Property Law Journal Annual Dinner - Addressed approximately fifty members of the IP Journal, The University of Georgia Law Review, Faculty and Deans on the subject of copyright law. · Patent, Trademark and Copyright Section, Colorado Bar Association and Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Copyright Society of the USA (Joint Sponsors) - Speaker for presentation of "Hot Topics in Copyright Litigation" May 7, 2004. · Swedish Copyright Law Society - Presentation regarding "Fighting Copyright Battles in the U.S.", May 27, 2004. · American Bar Association 2004 Annual Meeting - Presentation of "The Wind Done Gone: The Rights and Limits of Copyright and the First Amendment", August 7, 2004. · Harvard Law School - Presentation regarding "Rosa Parks v. OutKast and Other Cases: Great Controversies in Entertainment", November 10, 2004. · IP Innovations - Web-cast presentation regarding "Hot Topics in Copyright and Publicity Law", January 6, 2005. · American Bar Association 2005 Annual Conference, ADR Section - Mock Mediation of Rosa Parks v. OutKast (Willie Gary v. Joe Beck) on April 14, 2005. · Emory Advocacy Society - "'Entertaining' Entertainment Cases", March 1, 2006. · Women In Film - "Copyright Law", March 15, 2006. · The University of Georgia School of Law - Lecture "Private Rights and the Public Interest", April 18, 2006. · AV® rated by Martindale-Hubbell. | 
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