- representing members of The Allman Brothers Band in breach of contract litigation against UMG Records, Inc. for failure to pay royalties at the correct rate for digital downloads and other digital exploitation of several classic albums by The Allman Brothers Band;
- representing THOIP in litigation against The Walt Disney Company for infringement of THOIP's MR. MEN and LITTLE MISS family of trademarks;
- representing First Niagara Insurance Brokers in $530 million trademark infringement action against First Niagara Financial Group;
- representing Bill Graham Archives LLC with respect to various copyright, trademark, right of publicity and other intellectual property disputes relating to the operation of its Wolfgang’s Vault website and exploitation of its rights to a large collection of sound recordings, poster art and vintage rock and roll memorabilia;
- representing music publisher Bourne Co. in a copyright infringement action against the creators of The Family Guy animated television program, arising out of the defendants’ unauthorized use of the classic song “When You Wish Upon a Star;”
- representing Music Choice in a copyright royalty rate-setting proceeding before the Copyright Royalty Board. Case settled during trial;
- defending the MP3.com music service in various copyright infringement lawsuits;
- winning an appeal in the Seventh Circuit on the fair use defense for Publications International, Ltd. in a case brought by the makers of Beanie Babies plush toys arising out of the publication of a Beanie Babies collector’s guide;
- defending Yahoo! in a copyright case brought by the recording industry in relation to the LaunchCast webcasting service;
- obtaining a preliminary injunction, affirmed on appeal, for domain name registrar Register.com, stopping the defendant from harvesting customer data from Register.com’s website;
- obtaining subpoenas to trace identity of defendants who had posted defamatory statements about an individual client;
- representing a religious organization in a trademark action relating to the unauthorized use of the client’s trademark in a third-level domain name;
- defeating preliminary injunction action brought by comedian Jackie Mason against a religious organization relating to the use of Mr. Mason’s name and likeness in a parody on a religious tract; and
- representing Caesar’s World, Inc. in one of the first in rem cases brought under the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act.
Mr. Fakler was elected to the Executive Committee of the New York State Bar Association Intellectual Property Law Section, where he currently serves as Treasurer. He frequently lectures on issues related to copyright, entertainment and Internet law, and has appeared on television and in the press, commenting on cutting-edge intellectual property issues.
Prior to attending law school, Mr. Fakler worked in the multimedia software development field and taught English composition and film studies at the University of Florida. Mr. Fakler's undergraduate training was in philosophy, with an emphasis on continental and post-structuralist philosophy. He pursued graduate studies in literature and film studies, focusing his research on the impact of electronic forms of communication on human cognition. He is a recovering musician and an inveterate film fanatic.
