Biography

John Stephens focuses his practice on media and entertainment litigation, intellectual property licensing and transactions, and specialty insurance coverage and litigation. Mr. Stephens handles matters for a diverse client base. His entertainment and media clients include media entities, magazines, television and radio stations, production companies, entertainment technology companies, computer technologies, online content and software providers, and talent. Additionally, Mr. Stephens represents clients in the manufacturing, financial, and insurance industries.

Mr. Stephens focuses his practice on enforcement and litigation of copyright, trademark, trade dress, trade secret, and false advertising matters. He counsels clients on protecting intellectual property rights, as well as handles intellectual property transactions, such as software licenses, product licenses, rights-sharing agreements, and merchandising and branding deals.

Mr. Stephens also represents insurers in all aspects of coverage, the preparation of coverage opinions, claims investigation, litigation and trial. He also counsels insurers on claims handling procedures, loss prevention and assist with drafting policies.

Affiliations, Activities and Accomplishments

Mr. Stephens is admitted to practice before the United States Courts of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and for all districts of the United States District Court for the State of California.

Martindale-Hubbell awarded an “AV” to Mr. Stephens in recognition of his professional excellence, depth of experience and distinguished levels of skill and integrity. In addition, Mr. Stephens was named a 2005 “Southern California SuperLawyer–Rising Star” by the publishers of Los Angeles Magazine and The Journal for Law & Politics. Only 2.5 percent of Southern California lawyers in Los Angeles and Orange counties received this honor.

He is an active member of the American Bar Association. He was appointed chair of the Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section Diversity Committee in 2010 and currently continues serve in this role. He served as the chair of the Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Sections’ Intellectual Property Committee for the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 terms, where he was also the co-editor of the committee’s newsletter.  In addition, he was one of 21 admitted to the TIPS Leadership Academy of the American Bar Association for 2009-2010.

Since 2010, Mr. Stephens has served on the National Board of Directors for the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) and formerly a co-Chair of GLAAD National Board of Directors.   Mr. Stephens also served on the Executive Committee and was Treasurer. 

He served as a trustee to the San Fernando Valley Bar Association Board from 2009-2011 and as co-chair of the Intellectual Property Section from 2005-2012.  He currently serves as the Chair of the Diversity Committee.  He is also a member of the California Bar Association, Los Angeles County Bar Association, Defense Research Institute, Association of Southern California Defense Counsel, Los Angeles Copyright Society and the National Association of Television Program Executives.
 
Additionally, Mr. Stephens is active with Lambda Legal and formerly a member of the Steering Committees for the Service Members Legal Defense Network (SLDN).  He is actively involved in Sedgwick’s internal committees, including Chair of the Media Entertainment and Sports group, Chair of the Live Entertainment Task Force and Chair of the Los Angeles Diversity Committee, Chair of the Diversity Committee’s pipeline subcommittee and the Los Angeles Representative of the firm’s E Discovery Committee.   

Published Opinions

• Hydro-Mill v. Hayward, Tilton & Rolapp; 115 Cal.App.4th 1145; certified for publication February 2004.
• Peliculas Y Videos Internacionales v. Harriscope of Los Angeles, Inc.; 302 F.Supp.2d 1131 (C.D. Cal. 2004).

 Presentations & Publications

• Author, “How Crowdfunding Could Impact Film Financing,” Law360 Media & Entertainment, May 6, 2013.
• Author, “America Invents Act Makes Significant Changes to U.S. Patent Law,” Sedgwick’s Media Law Bulletin, April 2013.
• Author, “AIA’s ‘First to File’ Patent System Looms on the Horizon,” Daily Journal, February 28, 2013.
• Speaker, “IP 101,” San Fernando Valley Bar Association, Tarzana, CA, January 19, 2013.
• Author, “How Gender Disparities in Film Impact Juror Perceptions,” ABA TIPS Diversity Committee Newsletter, January 15, 2013.
• Author, “FCC Approves Liberty Media's Long-Awaited Sirius Takeover,” Law360 Media & Entertainment, January 7, 2013.
• Author, “Top 5 Media & Entertainment Cases Of 2012,” Law360, January 4, 2013.
• Author, "FCC Rethinks Indecency," Daily Journal, October 15, 2012.
• Author, “High Court Punts Free Speech Issues in FCC v. Fox,” Daily Journal, July 2, 2012.
• Author, “CBS’ Eight-Year ‘Wardrobe Malfunction,” Daily Journal, April 30, 2012.
• Author, “Viacom Keeps YouTube Fight Alive,” Daily Journal, April 17, 2012.
• Speaker, “Data Privacy and the Internet,” San Fernando Valley Bar Association, Woodland Hills, CA, April 13, 2012.
• Author, “Halftime Glitch: Giving the FCC the Finger – Literally,” Daily Journal, February 22, 2012.
• Author, “FCC Broadcast Indecency Case: Which Gets Protected – First Amendment or Children?,” Daily Journal, January 23, 2012.
• Speaker, “IP 101,” San Fernando Valley Bar Association, Tarzana, CA, January 14, 2012.
• Author, “2011 Media Year in Review,” Sedgwick’s Media Law Bulletin, January 2012.
• Speaker, “IP Year in Review 2011,” San Fernando Valley Bar Association, Woodland Hills, CA, December 14, 2011.
• Speaker, “Patent Litigation and Damages,” San Fernando Valley Bar Association, Woodland Hills, CA, September 9, 2011.
• Author, “Landmark Ruling to Be Destroyed by the F-Bomb?: U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Broadcast Indecency Case,” Sedgwick’s Media Law Bulletin, September 2011.
• Author, “Warner Bros.’ LGBT Group Reaches Out to the Community,” Sedgwick’s EMBRACE – Diversity Newsletter, June 2011.
• Author, “Plumpy’nut: When IP and Human Rights Collide,” Sedgwick’s Media Law Bulletin, May 2011.
• Speaker, “Intellectual Property 101,” San Fernando Valley Bar Association, Woodland Hills, CA, April 20, 2011.
• Author, “Attack on Net Neutrality, What Gives?,” Daily Journal, March 17, 2011.
• Speaker, “IP 101: What Every Practitioner Should Know,” San Fernando Valley Bar Association, Woodland Hills, CA, March 10, 2011.
• Author, “No More 'Hon'? Hon Battle in Baltimore over Trademarked Endearment,” Sedgwick’s Media Law Bulletin, February 2011. 
• Speaker, “Intellectual Property Year in Review,” San Fernando Valley Bar Association, Woodland Hills, CA, January 21, 2011. 
• Co-author, “2010 Media Year in Review,” Sedgwick’s Media Law Bulletin, January 2011.
• Author, “Courts Favoring ISPs in Copyright Infringement Battles – The Shifting Tide,” Sedgwick’s Media Law Bulletin, October 2010.
• Co-author, “Verizon-Google’s Proposal to Limit Net Neutrality Will Hurt Consumers,” Daily Journal, September 2010.
• Author, “The Shifting Tide: Courts Favoring ISPs in Copyright Infringement Battles,” Los Angeles Daily Journal, August 2010.
• Moderator, “Art and Law in the 21st Century,” American Bar Association’s Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, August 8, 2010.
• Co-author, “Net Neutrality: Opposing Sides Divided Over Meaning, Impact - Part 2,” San Francisco Daily Journal, June 2010.
• Co-author, “Net Neutrality: Opposing Sides Divided Over Meaning, Impact - Part 1,” San Francisco Daily Journal, June 2010.
• Co-author, "The Future of the FCC's New Indecency Policy," Los Angeles County Bar Association's Los Angeles Lawyer, May 2010.
• Author, “Leading By Example: Diversity in Corporate America,” DRI’s For the Defense, May 2010.
• Co-author, "The FCC's New Policy May Be Obscene," Sedgwick's Live Entertainment News, Spring 2010.
• Co-author, “Libel Tourist Attractions May Be Closing in the U.K.,” Sedgwick’s Media Law Bulletin, April 2010.
• Speaker, "When You Turn 18," California State University Northridge Academy, Los Angeles, CA, March 17, 2010.
• Co-author, "In the UK, Libel Tourist Attractions May Be Closing," San Francisco Daily Journal, March 2010.
• Co-author, “Intellectual Property Law Committee: Merging Competency with Conscience," American Bar Association’s The Brief, Winter 2010.
• Author, "2009 Media Year in Review," Sedgwick's Media Law Bulletin, January 2010.
• Speaker, “Hot Topics in IP for the Live Entertainment Industry,” San Fernando Valley Bar Association, San Fernando Valley, CA, December 11, 2009. 
• Speaker, “The Diversity Factor: Capturing the Competitive Advantage,” American Bar Association’s Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section, San Diego, CA, October 8, 2009. 
• Speaker, “Electronic Information: How to Find it, How to Protect it, and What to do After the Worst Happens,” American Bar Association, Chicago, IL, August 1, 2009.
• Speaker, “Hot New Issues in Trademark Litigation,” San Fernando Valley Bar Association, Woodland Hills, CA, July 10, 2009.
• Author, "Swear Tactics," Daily Journal, July 2009.
• Author, “Britain’s Speech Impediment,” Daily Journal, June 2009.
• Author, “Libel Tourism and the First Amendment: This Trip Will Cost You Plenty,” Sedgwick’s Media Law Bulletin, June 2009.
• Author, "Value on the Brain," Daily Journal, April 2009.
• Author, “Valuing Intellectual Property Assets,” IP Today, April 2009.
• Speaker, “IP 101,” San Fernando Valley Bar Association, Woodland Hills, CA, January 17, 2009.
• Speaker, “Intellectual Property Year In Review,” San Fernando Valley Bar Association, Woodland Hills, CA, January 9, 2008.
• Author, "Cross Words," Daily Journal, December 23, 2008.
• Co-Author, “Sprinkles Cupcakes Is Seeing Red ...Velvet, That Is!,” Sedgwick’s Media Law Bulletin, November 2008.
• Author, "Technical Difficulties," Daily Journal, October 31, 2008.
• Author, “Sword and Shield: New Media’s Legal Savior?,” Valley Lawyer, October 2008.
• Co-author, "Online Privacy's Disappearing Act," Daily Journal, August 29, 2008.
• Moderator, "Ordering Liberty in an International Economy," ABA Annual Meeting, New York, NY, August 8, 2008.
• Co-author, “An Obscene Limit on Speech,” Los Angeles Daily Journal, June 19, 2008.
• Author, "Keeping Piracy at Bay: Is YouTube’s Filter Sufficient Under Grokster?" Sedgwick’s Media Law Bulletin, June 2008.
• Speaker, “Deposition Workshop,” ABA Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section (TIPS) Midyear Meeting, Los Angeles, CA, February 8, 2008.
• Co-author, "2007 Media Year in Review," Sedgwick's Media Law Bulletin, January 2008.
• Co-author, "Caught Without a License," Marketing Law, November/December 2007.
• Co-author, "Pump Up the Volume: No Need to Mute Internet Radio, After All," Sedgwick's Media Law Bulletin, November 2007.
• “Anti-SLAPP Statutes: California Moves toward the National Consensus,” TortSource, Fall 2007.
• Co-author, Media Law Bulletin, Sedgwick, Detert, Moran, & Arnold, LLP, September 2007.
• Speaker, "Intellectual Property Valuation for Tax Purposes," California Society Certified Public Accountants, Los Angeles, CA, August 14, 2007.
• Speaker/Program Co-Chair, "Intellectual Property Insurance Coverage: How to Get It; How to Keep It," ABA Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, August 10, 2007.
• "Blame It On The Boogie: 'Electric Slide' Inventor Sued," IP Law360,  June 7, 2007.
• "Electronic Discovery: The New Rules,"  San Fernando Valley Bar Association Intellectual Property, Entertainment, & Internet Law Section Breakfast Program, Encino, CA, March 16, 2007.
• Co-presenter, "The Litigation Gamble: How to Increase Your Odds," Insurance Brokers and Agents of the West 15th Annual Palm Springs Getaway Seminar, Palm Springs, CA, January 26-27, 2007.
• Author, "Sword and Shield: New media's legal savior?", Hollywood Reporter, ESQ., January 11, 2007.
• "2006 Media Year in Review," Media Law Bulletin, December 2006.
• "Thought Leadership," Inside the Minds: Winning Legal Strategies for Advertising and Marketing: Top Lawyers on Best Practices for Success, Aspatore Books, Boston, Fall 2006.
• "The I.P. Year in Review," San Fernando Valley Bar Association, Encino, CA, December 2006.
• Co-Author, "Courts Must Rein in FCC’s Harmful Indecency Enforcement," San Francisco Daily Journal, November 14, 2006.
• Author, "The Juice Squeezed? Fred Goldman Sues for O.J. Simpson's Publicity Rights," Media Law Bulletin, October 2006.
• Quoted, "Designers Hitting Target With Suits Over Trademarks," Los Angeles Business Journal, October 23, 2006.
• Speaker, "Presentation to the General Committee Board Meeting," American Bar Association Tort Trial and Insurance Practices Section (TTIPS), Pinehurt, NC, October 22, 2006.
• Editor, "Conducting Discovery in an Electronic World: Electronic Data and Discovery," Continuing Education of the Bar - California Civil Discovery Process, Chapter 4, Summer 2006.
• "The I.P. Year in Review," San Fernando Valley Bar Association, Encino, CA, December 2005.
• "E-Commerce in the 50 States," Presented to the Conference on Past, Present and Future of E-Commerce, Internet Distribution & Competition Law, Boston, Massachusetts, October 2005.
• "Jurisdictional Issues in E-Commerce,” Presented to San Fernando Valley Bar Association, San Fernando, CA, April 2005.
• “Media Insurance Policies,” Rutter Guide on Media Insurance, 2005.
• “Viva Los Compilaciones: Fair Use or Return to Sender,” ABA/TIPS Media, Privacy and Defamation Law Committee Newsletter, Winter 2004.
• “10 Tips for a Successful Deposition,” Los Angeles County Bar Association, Breakfast at the Bar Series, March 2004.