Jason M. Karlov

The work that Jason handles for his clients requires his knowledge of, and participation in, virtually all aspects of the music, television, film, live events, advertising, licensing and technology industries.

Entertainment and Music

Jason handles advertising, branding, content and sponsorship deals for all types of clients, from both the buyer's and seller's vantage point. He has handled sales and sponsorship deals for NASCAR teams, an Internet service provider who maintains one of the top five most visited websites in the world, the largest electronics retail company in the U.S., the largest tobacco brand in the U.S. and the largest wine and beer distributor in the U.S. Jason also negotiated and administered a $1 billion sponsorship deal for an international sports governing body with one of the foremost brands in the world.

Jason is and has been the lead defense counsel for dozens of clients facing claims of alleged infringements of copyrights of music played via clients’ social media accounts, in client’s products, and during clients’ events.  He has resolved numerous alleged copyright infringement claims for clients with household names, negotiating and settling matters with multiple music and copyright holding companies.  Jason currently is counsel for an entire sports franchise and all of its teams, and is counsel for multiple teams across multiple leagues.

Jason is the primary outside counsel for several musicians, including Oscar and Grammy Award Winners: Michael Bolton, T-Bone Burnett, Bob Dylan, the Grateful Dead publishing catalog, John Fogerty and Rufus Wainwright. Jason also serves as special outside counsel in connection with the sales of music catalogs for artists such as Imagine Dragons and The Killers. Similarly, he also represents buyers of music catalogs including on behalf of Spirit Music. He also handles celebrity work for personalities like Cesar Millan, who is known as the 'Dog Whisperer.' Moreover, in representing entities in film and television production and finance, inclusive of deals with producers, directors, screenwriters and composers, Jason's experience includes all aspects of production and rights acquisition through distribution deals with companies such as HBO, Sony, Universal, Fox and Warner Bros.

Live Events

Jason represented the producer for the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI). Since the initial production of CGI, which grew into one of the foremost philanthropic events in the world, raising billions of dollars for charities around the globe.

Jason has been one of the primary outside counsel for one of the largest event marketing companies in the world.

Jason has negotiated and documents marketing and promotion agreements with prominent race tracks in the United States for NASCAR and Thoroughbred Racing, as well as one of the world's most prominent race tracks for Formula One.

Jason handles production, labor, trade and venue work for live theatre both on and off Broadway, including productions of The Wizard of Oz and Wicked.

Jason's live event work also includes the production and sponsorship of conventions, expositions and tournaments, as well as the purchase and sale of such events including the PGA, America's Cup and Tour De France.

Technology Industries

Jason was primary outside counsel to one of the world's leading content aggregators and has served in this capacity for more than six years handling deals related to industries such as entertainment, news and travel, television, radio film, content aggregators, as well as corporate sponsors like Nissan and Pepsi, and entertainers such as Oprah Winfrey and sports figures like David Beckham.

Jason has represented one of the world's foremost computer monitor manufacturers for eight years inclusive of FCC work, OEM litigation and with respect to international trade.

Jason leads the outside counsel team handling all contractual issues to build out a widget and applications platform, as well as the storefront, for the largest mobile hardware provider in the U.S., including as it relates to advertising, copyright, content, the FTC, the FCC, patent, software, sweepstakes / promotions, trademark, as well as RSS feeds and SMS text.

Education

Jason received his B.A., cum laude, with distinction in English and American Literature from Brandeis University in 1991. He received both his M.A. in Communication Management (Annenberg School for Communication) and his J.D. from the University of Southern California in 1995.

Jason is a board member of the City of Hope. Jason is consistently recognized as a top entertainment attorney in Variety magazine's Legal Impact Report as well as its Top Dealmakers list. Additionally, he has been included in Billboard's Top Music Lawyers listing.