Return to Paul Geller's Home Page

 

Résumé

Paul Edward Geller

Attorney at Law

 

Law Offices, Suite 925
12100 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90025

 

Telephone: 1.310.440.0047
Facsimile: 1.310.440.0048
Email:  paul at pgeller.com

 

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

Specialized Legal Practice: 1986 - present

Expert counsel in litigation, media transactions, and strategic planning, with regard to international and comparative copyright and to related conflicts of laws

Selected Clients: American Film Marketing Association; Directors and Writers Guilds of America; Goodyear Tire Company; Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer; Motion Picture Association of America; Elvis Presley Estate; Sergei Rachmaninoff Estate; Recording Industry Association of America; Summit Entertainment; Zomba Music; Zynga Games

Writing and Teaching: General Editor, International Copyright Law and Practice; further writing listed and some linked below, with sample articles posted on this site; Adjunct Faculty, University of Southern California Law School, Los Angeles, International Copyright and International Intellectual Property, 1987-2001; Lecturer, Stanford Law School, Intellectual Property, 1989

Member: ALAI-USA; Copyright Society of the USA; Los Angeles Copyright Society; International Association for the Advancement of Teaching and Research in Intellectual Property (ATRIP); Editorial Advisory Board, European Copyright and Design Reports; International Editorial Board, Cahiers de Propriété Intellectuelle, Canada; Expert Committee, Intellectual Property Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) IP Center; Research Group, Droit et changements, CRDP, Faculté de droit de Montréal

General Legal Practice: 1977-85

Counsel in complex business litigation in state and federal courts; Transactional counsel for private media and other business clients; Instructor, Comparative Law, Golden Gate University, 1977-79; Admitted to the State Bar of California, December, 1976

 

EDUCATION

Legal Studies: 1973-76

JD, University of Southern California Law School, 1976; Member, Southern California Law Review, 1974-76; Member, Curriculum Committee, 1974-75

European Studies and Teaching: 1962-73

Doctorate, Philosophy, University of Paris X, 1973; Chargé de cours, Universities of Paris and Toulouse, 1969-72; Instructor, University of Maryland, European Division, 1966; French Government Fellowship, 1965-67; fluent French; working knowledge of German

Initial University Studies: 1957-62

MA, as Woodrow Wilson Fellow, Brandeis University, 1962; AB, with General Honors, University of Chicago, 1961

 

SELECTED LEGAL PUBLICATIONS

International Copyright: The Introduction, framework chapter, contributed as the General Editor of International Copyright Law and Practice (published by Matthew Bender / LexisNexis, updated annually)

A German Approach to Fair Use: Test Cases for TRIPs Criteria for Copyright Limitations?, 57 Journal of the Copyright Society of the USA 553 (2010)

Rethinking the Berne-Plus Framework: From Conflicts of Laws to Copyright Reform, 2009 European Intellectual Property Review [EIPR] 391, as well as in translation in 2010 Propriétés intellectuelles 699 (French).

Beyond the Copyright Crisis: Principles for Change, 55 Journal of the Copyright Society of the USA 165 (2008), as well as in translations in 2009 Cahiers de Propriété Intellectuelle 47 (French) and in 19 Intellectual Property Studies 1 (CASS IP Center, 2010) (Chinese)

Dissolving Intellectual Property, 2006 European Intellectual Property Review [EIPR] 139 and in Intellectual Property: Bridging Aesthetics and Economics 1 (Y. Gendreau, ed., ATRIP, Thémis, 2006), as well as in translations in 2006 GRUR Int. 273 (German), 2006 Propriétés intellectuelles 4 (French), and 18 Intellectual Property Studies 17 (CASS IP Center, 2007) (Chinese)

Conflicts of Laws in Copyright Cases: Infringement and Ownership Issues, 51 Journal of the Copyright Society of the USA 315 (2004)

An International Patent Utopia?, 2003 European Intellectual Property Review [EIPR] 515 and in translations in 2004 GRUR Int. 271 (German), 2004 Propriétés intellectuelles 503 (French), and 15 Intellectual Property Studies 78 (CASS IP Center, 2004) (Chinese)

Copyright History and the Future: What's Culture Got to Do With It?, 47 Journal of the Copyright Society of the USA 209 (Millennium issue, 2000) and in translation in 6 Forum on Intellectual Property 237 (CASS IP Center, 2001) (Chinese)

Mastering Conflicts of Laws in Intellectual Property Litigation, 18 (no. 4) IPL Newsletter 7 (ABA Section of Intellectual Property Law, 2000)

Zombie and Once-Dead Works: Copyright Retroactivity after the E.C. Term Directive, 18 (no. 2) Entertainment and Sports Lawyer 7 (ABA Entertainment Law Forum, 2000)

Overcoming Insularity: Lessons from New British Books for International Intellectual Property, 46 Journal of the Copyright Society of the USA 615 (1999)

International Intellectual Property, Conflicts of Laws, and Internet Remedies, in its original version in Essays in Honour of H. Cohen Jehoram 29 (Kluwer, 1998), expanded in 2000 European Intellectual Property Review [EIPR] 125, and that version in translations in 1999 Cahiers de Propriété Intellectuelle 227 (French) and 2000 GRUR Int. 659 (German), and updated in 10 Journal of Intellectual Property Rights 133 (NISCAIR, 2005) and in translation in 17 Intellectual Property Studies 1 (CASS IP Center, 2005) (Chinese)

Hiroshige v. Van Gogh: Resolving the Dilemma of Copyright Scope in Remedying Infringement, in its original version in Festskrift till Gunnar Karnell 193 (Carlsson Law, 1999), expanded in 46 Journal of the Copyright Society of the USA 39 (1998), and that version in translation in 22 (no. 3) CASS Journal of Foreign Law 62 (2000) (Chinese), and reprinted in Dear Images: Art, Copyright and Culture 421 (D. McClean and K. Schubert, eds., Ridinghouse ICA, 2002)

From Patchwork to Network: Strategies for International Intellectual Property in Flux, 9 Duke J. of International & Comparative Law 69 (1998) and 31 Vanderbilt J. of Transnational Law 553 (1998) and in translation in 5 Intellectual Property Studies 1 (CASS IP Center, 1998) (Chinese)

Litigating Cross-Border Infringement in International Intellectual Property, 22 (no. 3) New Matter 1 (California Bar Intellectual Property Section, 1997)

Conflicts of Laws in Cyberspace: Rethinking International Copyright, 44 Journal of the Copyright Society of the USA 103 (1996), 20 Columbia-VLA Journal of Law & the Arts 571 (1996), and 31 (no. 1) UNESCO Copyright Bulletin 1 (in English and translations, 1997)

Intellectual Property in the Global Marketplace: Impact of TRIPs Dispute Settlements, 29 The International Lawyer 99 (ABA, 1995) and in translations 1995 GRUR Int. 935 (German), 68 Aktualne Problemy Prawa Prasowego 9 (1997) (Institute for Protection of IP, Cracow) (Polish), and Propriedad Intelectual en el GATT 171 (C.M. Correa, ed., Ciudad Argentina, 1997) (Spanish)

The Universal Electronic Archive: Issues in International Copyright, 25 International Review of Industrial Property & Copyright Law [IIC] 54 (1994)

Must Copyright Be For Ever Caught Between Marketplace and Authorship Norms?, in Of Authors and Origins: Essays in Copyright Law, 159 (B. Sherman & A. Strowel, eds., Clarendon Press, 1994)

Toward an Overriding Norm in Copyright: Sign Wealth, 159 Revue Internationale du Droit d'Auteur 3 (1994) (in English and in French and Spanish translations)

Legal Transplants in International Copyright: Some Questions of Method, 13 UCLA Pacific Basin Law Journal 199 (1994)

The Proposed EC Rental Right: Avoiding Some Berne Incompatibilities, 1992 European Intellectual Property Review [EIPR] 4 and in translation in 1992 (no. 4) Actualité Législative Dalloz 29 (French)

New Dynamics in International Copyright, 16 Columbia-VLA Journal of Law & the Arts 461 (1992) and in translations in 32 (no. 8) Copyright 2 (1992) (Japanese), 5 Cahiers de Propriété Intellectuelle 391 (1993) (French), and 1993 GRUR Int. 526 (German)

French High Court Remands Huston Colorization Case, 13 (no. 3) Entertainment Law Reporter 3 (1991), 16 (no. 4) New Matter 1 (Cal. Bar IP Section, 1991), and 39 Journal of the Copyright Society of the USA 252 (1992)

US Supreme Court Decides the Feist Case, 22 International Review of Industrial Property & Copyright Law [IIC] 802 (1991) and 150 Revue Internationale du Droit d'Auteur 115 (1991) (in English and in French and Spanish translations)

Can the GATT Incorporate Berne Whole?, 4 World Intellectual Property Report 193 (BNA, 1990) and 1990 European Intellectual Property Review [EIPR] 423

Reprography and Other Processes of Mass Use, 38 Journal of the Copyright Society of the USA 21 (1990) and 153 Revue Internationale du Droit d'Auteur 3 (1992) (in English and in French and Spanish translations)

Worldwide "Chain of Title" to Copyright, 11 (no. 3) Entertainment Law Reporter 3 (1989), 15 (no. 1) New Matter 3 (Cal. Bar IP Section, 1990), and 4 World Intellectual Property Report 103 (BNA, 1990)

Harmonizing Copyright-Contract Conflicts Analyses, 25 Copyright 49 (WIPO, 1989) and translated in102 Le Droit d'Auteur 49 (WIPO, 1989) (French)

Copyright Protection in the Berne Union: Analyzing the Issues, 5 Intellectual Property Journal 1 (1989) and 13 Columbia-VLA Journal of Law & the Arts 435 (1989)

US Compliance with Article 6bis of the Berne Convention,10 Columbia-VLA Journal of Law & the Arts 665 (1986)

 

SELECTED SPEECHES AND PROGRAMS

Panel, Reforming Copyright: Process, Policy and Politics, Southwestern Law School, Los Angeles, March 6, 2009

Speaker and Panel Moderator, International Fair Use, Compared, Examining the Derivative Works Right in the Face of Fair Use, University of San Francisco Law School, Nov. 1, 2008

Panel, The Global Impact of the Internet on Copyright Law, University of Southern California School of Law 2008 Intellectual Property Institute, Beverly Hills, March 18, 2008

Keynote Speaker, International Congress, held at the University of Montreal, Quebec, International Association for the Advancement of Teaching and Research in Intellectual Property (ATRIP), July 11, 2005

Speaker, Going Abroad: Whose Laws Apply?, Getting What You Pay For: IP Issues and Risks of Offshoring, Intellectual Property Society, Palo Alto, California, Sept. 14, 2004

Speaker, 3rd Annual Entertainment Law Symposium, Loyola Law School, Los Angeles Copyright Society, and the Motion Picture Association of America, at the American Film Market, Santa Monica, Feb. 24, 2001

Panel, International Intellectual Property, International Law West Weekend, International Law Association, American Society of International Law, and American Bar Association, Pepperdine Law School, Jan. 26, 2001

Panel, Intellectual Property and the Future of Cyberspace, Research Conference, Digital Cultures Project, University of California at Santa Barbara, Nov. 4, 2000

Panel, International Intellectual Property: Representing the Client in the Multimedia World, 46th Annual Entertainment Law Institute, University of Southern California Law School, Sept. 23, 2000

Luncheon Speaker, 24th Annual Intellectual Property Institute, the State Bar of California, IP Section, Santa Monica, California, Nov. 13, 1999

Opening Speaker, Intellectual Property in the New Millennium, Program, US Council for International Business, International Chamber of Commerce, Palo Alto, California, Oct. 19, 1999

Speaker and Participant, Interdisciplinary Workshop, Creating Intellectual Property, Annenberg Center for Communication, University of Southern California, Sept. 26-27, 1998

Speaker and Panel, Symposium, Balance Between Protection and Exploitation, Japan Software Information Center (SOFTIC), Tokyo, Nov. 13-14, 1997

Speaker, Plenary Session, Globalization of the Entertainment and Sports Industries, ABA Forum on the Entertainment and Sports Industries, Miami Beach, Oct. 18, 1997

Speaker, Conference, Public-Private Initiatives After TRIPs, Duke Law School, Center for Global Information Technologies, Brussels, July 16-19, 1997

Panel, Conference, Intellectual Property and New Business Models on the Internet, Berkeley Center for Law & Technology, University of California, Nov. 8-9, 1996

Panel, Forum, The Protection of Intellectual Creations in the Information Society, World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Naples, Oct. 18-20, 1995

Speaker and Panel, Academy Colloquium, The Future of Copyright in a Digital Environment, the Institute for Information Law, University of Amsterdam, July 6-7, 1995

Speaker, Trinational Forum on Intellectual Property and Industrial Development, the Institute of Legal Research, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Mexico City, June 8-10, 1994

Speaker and Panel, Conference, Intellectual and Industrial Property: Objectives & Strategies, the Commission of the European Community, Athens, April 11-13, 1994

Conference on Intellectual Property Protection in East Asia, held jointly by the Center for East Asian Studies of the University of Missouri and by the Law School of Washington University in St. Louis, Feb. 25-26, 1994

Speaker, World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Symposium, The Impact of Digital Technology on Copyright, Harvard Law School, Cambridge, March 31 - April 2, 1993

Trade Workshops, National Committee on US-China Relations and China CCPIT, Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, China, May 25 - June 2, 1992

Speaker, China-US Intellectual Property Seminar, AT&T and China SSTC, under the auspices of the Chinese Government, Beijing, May 19-22, 1992

Panel, Is Europe Rewriting Distribution Ground Rules?, American Film Market Forum, American Film Marketing Association, Santa Monica, California, March 2, 1992

International Training Seminar for Officials from French-speaking Africa, World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and US Copyright Office, Washington DC, Sept. 17-25, 1990

Speaker, Colloquium, The Reform of Copyright Law: Experiences Abroad, Swiss Institute of Comparative Law, Lausanne, Nov. 3, 1989

Speaker, Current Issues in Entertainment Law, Joint Program, Los Angeles Copyright Society, State Bar of California, and Los Angeles County Bar, IP Sections, Dana Point, June 3, 1989

Speaker, International IP Seminar, Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies, University of California, San Diego, July 15, 1988

 

OTHER SELECTED ACTIVITIES

Study Group on Protecting International Intellectual Property, Pacific Council on International Policy, Los Angeles, 1995-1998

Research Fellow, Max Planck Institute for International and Foreign Patent, Copyright, and Competition Law, Munich, Summer 1991