
Entertainment & IP Law - Law Office of Diane Leigh Davison
Washington D.C. Metro Area

Entertainment & IP Law - Law Office of Diane Leigh Davison
Washington D.C. Metro Area
Attorney with concentration in Entertainment Law (music, film, publishing, arts); Intellectual Property (copyrights & trademarks); and Corporate Law (formation & transactional business). Strong emphasis on involvement with community and nonprofit organizations in a leadership capacity.
Lecturer on entertainment and intellectual property issues and former adjunct law school professor.
Personally worked in various aspects of the entertainment and media industries, including more recently as concert reviewer, graphic designer, film producer, and artist management.
Bilingual in French and English with ties to the legal and entertainment communities in Belgium.
Transactional: Contract drafting, review and negotiation; purchase and sale of businesses; trouble-shooting & mediation in business settings. Trademark filing, infringement & opposition; Copyright filing & infringement.
Experienced at troubleshooting and brainstorming in any business setting with strong organizational skills.
Experienced computer programmer and web designer.Proficient in multiple platforms and most popular software in media and business.
(Sole Proprietorship; Myself Only; Law Practice industry)
November 1993 — Present (14 years 7 months)
International & National practice of Entertainment Law & Intellectual Property; media and internet; also general transactional practice comprising corporate law and business law. Specialize in brainstorming & troubleshooting for all types of business enterprises.
Past and present clients include The Angels ("My Boyfriend's Back"); Karen McmIllen (John Water's "Demented Forever"); movies including "Freedom Dance"; "Franky's Heaven"; "Maxim Xul"; "In The Living Years"
(Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Newspapers industry)
August 2005 — May 2006 (10 months)
Freelance journalist. Reviews of concerts from classical to rock.
(Educational Institution; 51-200 employees; Higher Education industry)
September 1995 — 2001 (6 years)
Entertainment Law. Created first-ever Entertainment Law course in State of Maryland law school.
(Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Political Organization industry)
August 1999 — November 1999 (4 months)
(Privately Held; 1-10 employees; Political Organization industry)
January 1998 — November 1998 (11 months)
(Non-Profit; 1-10 employees; Legal Services industry)
September 1989 — May 1992 (2 years 9 months)
(MLA) Volunteer lawyer for the arts organization, which I re-founded after it had become essentially defunct. The organization provides legal services to income eligible artists and arts organizations, as well as legal and business education in the area of entertainment and the arts.
I greatly expanded the roster of referral attorneys, board members and key officers in the MLA. I obtained donated office space and equipment, restructured the organization, applied for and was awarded numerous grants, developed the first Maryland-based entertainment law library. Networked with other national VLAs, attending the first-ever national VLA conference in San Francisco. Created and organized annual full day seminars in Film and Music, and associated other arts related seminars. Developed ties to the entertainment law groups at both University of Maryland (which I founded while there) and University of Baltimore Law Schools.
(Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Law Practice industry)
August 1991 — December 1991 (5 months)
Fall Associate in the Entertainment Division, working on entertainment matters with Robert Gaulin, George Fearon, Gerald Meyer, Mike Saland, Paul Sawyer, and Peter Rieneker.
Worked on varied legal matters including Robert Plant World Tour, book publishing deals, Blue Sky filings, and created entertainment contracts library for the entertainment division.
(Privately Held; 201-500 employees; Broadcast Media industry)
April 1985 — August 1985 (5 months)
Analyzed and wrote code in several computer languages relating to the operations of WMAR-TV, WMAR-FM, and the various other East Coast TV and Radio stations held by Abell Communications. Drafted all technical content for the new programming. Interacted with the stations' personnel and observed the stations' operations to brainstorm and innovate the software development.
JD, Law, 1988 — 1992
Entertainment Law & IP 1991 — 1991
BS, Math & Comp Sci, 1982 — 1988
Mathematics & Computer Science 1983 — 1985
Honors 1978 — 1982
Technology & computers; gardening; antiques & collecting; music & film
Maryland State Bar Association, Entertainment & Sports Law Section - Founder & Past Chair; Maryland Lawyers For the Arts - Founder, Past Exec Dir, Past Chair & Past President; Women in Film and Video of Maryland - Past VP & Past Secty; Maryland Producers Club; Baltimore City Bar Association/YLD - Member-at-Large, Committee Chairs.