Home
Contact
Show Blog
Passport
Industry News
|
|
|
|
Gold Sponsors
Silver Sponsors
Bronze Sponsors
|
Sean Kane |
|
|
Sean F. Kane is a member of Drakeford & Kane LLC and Manager of the firm’s Intellectual Property Practice Group. He counsels clients in the interactive entertainment, video game, virtual world, publishing, licensing and merchandising, and sweepstakes and gaming industries. His clients are engaged in all aspects of these industries and he regularly counsels his clients on various aspects of their business enterprises, including negotiation and completion of business agreements, counseling on the management and protection of intellectual property rights and other matters relating to their business operations, mergers and acquisitions, and representation in resolution of disputes. Moreover, he is regularly involved in transactions ranging from development, financing, publication and distribution of interactive entertainment properties and related technology licensing; licensing and merchandising of brands, character, entertainment and sports properties. He has substantial experience litigating complex business disputes in federal and state courts at trial, appellate levels and in ADR forums throughout the country. These matters usually concerned either infringement issues or disputes over the contracts that licensed, assigned or otherwise dealt with intellectual property. In addition to his work in interactive entertainment, his practice has also included negotiation, consultation and client representation in a broad range of other intellectual property transaction involving copyrights, trademarks, trade dress, trade secrets and publicity/privacy rights. While Mr. Kane has a special interest in interactive entertainment, video games and virtual worlds, he has represented clients engaged in various entertainment, communications and consumer products business segments, such as music publishing, records, motion picture (feature and independent films) and television production ¬and distribution, computer software, video games, virtual worlds and the Internet. Furthermore, his practice has encompassed many matters arising out of advertising, marketing and promotional issues, embracing contract disputes (such as, for example, an advertiser's termination of its ad agency or an advertiser’s use of sweepstakes) and litigation between competitors over claims of false and misleading comparative advertising. Prior to founding Drakeford & Kane LLC, Mr. Kane practiced with Hall Dickler, LLP (f/k/a Hall Dickler Kent Goldstein & Wood LLP) from 1998 to 2004. Mr. Kane has written and lectured extensively on legal topics relating primarily to intellectual property and entertainment issues. His recent articles are as follows: “A Passport to Virtual Worlds”, published by Internet Law & Strategy, Vol. 6, No. 6, June 2008; “Virtually Lawless: Legal & Economic Issues in Virtual Worlds”, published by The Computer & Internet Lawyer, Vol. 25, Number 6, June 2008; “Virtual Worlds, Digital Economies and Synthetic Crimes”, published by NYSBA Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law Journal, Vol. 19, No. 1, January 2008; “Passporting of Avatars and Property Between Virtual Worlds”, published by E-commerce Law & Policy, December 2007; “Internet Gambling Banned, New Legislation Forces Online Gaming Sites to Decide When to Hold Them and When to Fold Them”, published by Internet Law & Strategy, Vol. 4, No. 11, November 2006; “New Kinds of e-Commerce”, published by e-Commerce Law & Strategy, Vol. 23, No. 4, August 2006; “Asset Creation, Seclusion And Money Laundering In The Virtual World”, published by Internet Law & Strategy, Vol. 4, No. 7, July 2006; “Can The Grokster Settlement Close The File-Sharing Pandora’s Box?”, published by e-Commerce Law & Strategy, Vol. 22, No. 8, December 2005; “Can The Grokster Settlement Close Pandora’s Box?”, published by Internet Law & Strategy, Vol. 3, No. 12, December 2005; “International Film Production Incentives”, published by Entertainment Law & Finance, Vol. 21, No. 7, October 2005; “Virtual Worlds And Digital Rights, Can Stealing An Online Gamer’s IP Or Magic Sword Mean Real-World Legal Hot Water?”, published by Internet Law & Strategy, Vol. 3, No. 9, September 2005. Additionally his frequent commentary on business and law have appeared in various media outlets including: The Economist, New Scientist, BBC World News, CNN, New York Times, Reuters, MSNBC, BNA's Daily Tax Report, Tech News World and National Journal's Technology Daily. Mr. Kane’s most recent speaking engagements are as follows: June 2008 “Managing IP: Who Owns the Rights to Your Blood, Sweat & Tears”, featured speaker at the Paris Game Developers Conference, Paris, France; June 2008 “The Future of Computing, the Internet, and the Law: Legal Developments in Virtual Reality”, speaking engagement at the Second Annual National Institute on Cyberlaw: Expanding the Horizons, Washington, D.C.; May 2008 “Virtual Property: Issues in Buying and Selling Virtual Goods”, speaking engagement at the 08 ION Conference, Seattle, Washington; April 2008 “Gaming and Virtual Worlds: The New Legal Frontier”, speaking engagement at the ABA 23rd Annual Intellectual Property Law Conference, Washington, D.C.; April 2008 “Legal Issues in Virtual Currency”, featured speaker at the Virtual Law 2008 Conference, New York, New York; March 2008 “Ethical Issues Arising From Virtual Worlds, Social Networks and Blogs”, speaking engagement at the PLI Information Technology Law Institute 2008, New York, New York; February 2008 “Managing Copyright Issues in Videogames and Virtual Worlds”, featured speaker at the Game Developers Conference, San Francisco, California; February 2008 “Mashups, Mods & Machinima: Who Owns the Rights to Your Blood, Sweat & Tears”, featured speaker at the Game Developers Conference, San Francisco, California; January 2008 “Get A Virtual Life: Policy Issues Facing Online Worlds and Game Spaces”, speaking engagement at the State of the Net Conference, Washington, D.C.; January 2008 “Virtual Worlds – Real Law”, speaking engagement at the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, Entertainment Law Committee, New York, New York; October 2007 “Tax and e-money: what does it mean?”, speaking engagement at the Virtual Worlds Forum Europe, London, England; October 2007 “IP Wealth and Pitfalls of Synthetic Worlds”, speaking engagement at the Virtual Worlds Conference and Expo, San Jose, California; August 2007 “Virtual Law - How Online Games Are Shaping Legal Rules”, speaking engagement at the ABA 2007 Annual Meeting, San Francisco, California; August 2007 “Virtual World – Real Law”, speaking engagement at the ABA 2007 Annual Meeting, San Francisco, California; May 2007 “Before You Sign: Business and Legal Issues for Animators” speaking engagement at NYC ACM SIGGRAPH, New York, New York; April 2007 “Virtual Law - How Online Games Are Shaping Legal Rules”, speaking engagement at the ABA 22nd Annual Intellectual Property Law Conference, Washington, DC; March 2007 “Legal Ramifications of User Created Content in Open and Closed Virtual Worlds”, featured speaker at the Game Developers Conference, San Francisco, California; January 2007 “UNCITRAL Second International Intellectual Property Colloquium on Secured Transactions”, speaking engagement hosted by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law, Vienna, Austria; January 2007 “UNCITRAL Legislative Guide on Secured Transactions”, speaking engagement hosted by the Oxford Intellectual Property Research Center, Oxford University, England; June 2006 “Legal Issues Arising In Video Games And User-Created Content”, speaking engagement at the ABA Summer IPL Conference. Mr. Kane is a member of the American Bar Association Section of Intellectual Property Law, where he is a Co-Chair of the Securitization of Intellectual Property Section, as well as a member of the Section of Science & Technology Law, where he is a Co-Chair of the Virtual Worlds and Multiuser Online Games Committee. He is a member of the New York State Bar Association, as well as a member of the American Arbitration Association IP Panel of Neutrals. Mr. Kane is also a member of the Board of Editors of the LJN publication, Internet Law & Strategy. Additionally, he is a Member of the International Game Developers Association (“IGDA”). He earned his J.D. in 1998 from Fordham University School of Law, and his B.A. in 1995 from Villanova University. He is admitted to practice in New York, New Jersey, as well as the United States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern District of New York.
|
|
Copyright © 2003 - 2008 Show Initiative, LLC All rights reserved. Virtual Worlds Conference, Virtual Worlds Expo, Virtual Worlds Conference and Expo, Virtual Worlds Management, Virtual Worlds Fall, Virtual Worlds Spring, VW08, VW09, Virtual Worlds 2009, Virtual Worlds London, Virtual Worlds Connect, Virtual Worlds Passport, Virtual Law Conference are trademarks of Show Initiative, LLC.
|
|---|
