Legal Partners
PicScout has associated with leading law firms and collection agencies with expertise in copyrights enforcement and extended experience working with the photography industry. This worldwide network of Legal Partners was established as part of our efforts to provide a full compliance solution and improve users ability to recover licensing fees.
If you are interested in joining our global network of legal partners, please contact us.
We have partners in North America, Germany, France and Spain.
Joel L. Hecker, of Russo & Burke, NY, practices in every aspect of photography law. He acts as general counsel to many professional photographers, stock photo agencies, graphic artists and other content-related businesses nationwide and abroad. Mr. Hecker lectures and writes extensively on issues of concern to this industry, including a column "You and the Law" in Photo Stock Notes. He is a member and past Trustee of the USA Copyright Society, member of the Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law Section of the NY State Bar Association and Chair of the Copyright and Literary Property Committee of the NY City Bar Association.
Nancy E. Wolff, a managing partner of Cowan, DeBaets, Abrahams & Sheppard LLP, NY. She practices primarily in intellectual property and digital media law. Clients include trade associations Picture Archive Council of America (PACA) and PLUS, Inc., stock photo libraries, individual photographers, authors, illustrators, designers, publishers and digital media companies. She counsels clients in copyright, trademarks, licensing, contract, rights of publicity and privacy and libel. In addition to transactional work, she represents clients in arbitration hearings as well as state and federal court civil actions. In May 2007 her book entitled “The Professional Photographer’s Legal Handbook” was released by Allworth Press/PACA. The American Society of Picture Professionals named her “Picture Professional of the Year” for 2007.
NCS Recovery Corp is a worldwide attorney based collection agency headquartered in Sarasota, Florida, USA with offices in New York and New Jersey. Established in 1992, NCS recovers problem and past due receivables all over the world, and has been servicing the collection needs of the world most prestigious imagery companies since inception. Whether the debt you own is young or old, domestic or international, NCS Recovery Corp provides companies with the necessary leverage to secure payment in full. NCS is a full service agency from initial payment demand to full litigation services, asset searches, and skip tracing.
Janet Fries, a Partner in the Intellectual Property Practice Group at Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP, leads the firm’s copyright team. She has represented numerous photographers and other visual artists, and has extensive experience in: negotiating and drafting a wide variety of licenses, publishing agreements, assignments, releases, consents, and other contracts and agreements; protecting clients’ rights through registration with the Copyright Office and the Trademark Office; enforcing IP rights through mediation, arbitration and litigation; negotiating settlements; and providing counseling on various issues including matters relating to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and conducting business on the Internet. Janet is a member of the board of directors of Washington Area Lawyers for the Arts and chairs the American Bar Association’s IP Section Committee on Copyright & New Technologies. In addition to her legal practice, Janet is an experienced professional editorial and fine art photographer; her work has been widely published and exhibited.
The Nelson Law Firm, PC is an intellectual property litigation firm located at 100 Park Avenue in Manhattan. The firm was founded by copyright attorney Dan Nelson. The firm is dedicated primarily to the representation of plaintiffs in copyright litigation. The firm has extensive experience in representing photographers in cases involving textbook print over-runs, the misappropriation of high-value photographs, use in of photographs in excess of license, the creation of unauthorized derivative works, and the incorporation of photographs in Electronic products. The firm is also active in image recognition and copyright enforcement.
RightsAssist, LLC has been assisting clients in all aspects of intellectual property law for over 25 years. Our Legal Department handles rights research, rights management, licensing, and copyright enforcement for a broad range of clients, including government agencies, museums, individual photographers and artists, and designers. We negotiate rights and license assets on a daily basis. Based in the Washington, DC area, RightsAssist has offices on both the East and West coasts.
John Grant is the founding attorney at Imua Legal Advisors, a startup law firm in Seattle committed to delivering outstanding value in legal services. John has spent over 10 years in the Stock Photography industry—most of them as a sales and marketing director for Getty Images and later as in-house counsel—so he is particularly attuned to your company's need to protect its brand while maintaining a firm but fair copyright policy. His practice is highly focused on copyright law, particularly using the unique tools afforded by the DMCA to command compliance and increase recovery for copyright violations.
Marc Hügel of Waldorf Rechtsanwälte Law Firm, Munich, Germany.
The firm specializes in combating copyright and trademark infringements of various forms and has an unparalleled experience in devising creative and effective legal strategies to enforce intellectual property rights in the photography and intellectual property based industries. Waldorf has extensive experience in litigation and expertise in all chambers for copyright enforcement matters in Germany and over several thousands of cases are proceeded successfully every year. The firm is located in Munich, Germany and employs highly specialized and experienced in-house and freelance staff.
Read Marc Hügel's testimonial.
Since 1989, Avens Lehman & Associés Law Firm has assisted as advisor as well as litigator, authors and intangible moveable providers. AVENS has developed multi-disciplinary expertise - copyright, trademark, right of privacy, right of publicity, and unfair competition - necessary to manage and defend copyright owners' assets. These expertises are merged in the Intellectual Property, Communication and New Technologies law Department, run by Jean-Marie Léger, Partner and author of the "Guide juridique du créatif" (Legal Guide for designers). This department has set up special methods and tools for obtaining compensation for victims of infringements of copyrights.