Gregory A. Fayer

Tel (310) 556-4660
Fax (310) 556-4667
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Practice Areas

Entertainment
Litigation and Dispute Resolution
Media and Intellectual Property

Gregory A. Fayer specializes in entertainment and intellectual property litigation and other entertainment and IP related matters. Mr. Fayer received his J.D. degree in 2004 from Columbia Law School. At Columbia, Mr. Fayer was a Harlan Fiske Stone scholar and editor of the Columbia Journal of Law and the Arts. Mr. Fayer also served as extern for the Honorable Sonia Sotomayor (then on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, and now an Associate Justice on the United States Supreme Court).

Mr. Fayer represents clients in a variety of matters, including copyright and trademark infringement suits, film and television rights and royalty disputes, and software piracy and trade secrets matters. Mr. Fayer’s cases frequently have international components. In February 2010, Mr. Fayer obtained a $5.1 million judgment in favor of a German film production and financing company against a major U.S. distributor in a dispute over a financing and distribution agreement regarding the film, The Cave. In 2009, Mr. Fayer successfully represented a major U.S. film production and distribution company in achieving dismissal of claims against it, as well as an award of fees and costs, in a dispute over film rights and royalties. Also, in 2009, Mr. Fayer successfully represented a well-known personality who name, likeness, and intellectual property had been misappropriated on a Twitter imposter site. Mr. Fayer also represents an American software developer in a high profile international misappropriation of trade secrets case in federal court pertaining to the distribution of over 56 million unlicensed copies of pirated software in China and elsewhere.

Prior to law school, Mr. Fayer studied philosophy at the University of Chicago and University of Pittsburgh, and studied comparative religion at Harvard Divinity School. Mr. Fayer has taught numerous courses in ethics, social philosophy, aesthetics, film theory and other subjects. Prior to law school Mr. Fayer also toured extensively throughout the northeastern U.S. as guitarist and songwriter for rock band, the Sydneys, releasing a number of CDs. Mr. Fayer was an associate at Irell & Manella LLP before joining GHP in 2009.

Mr. Fayer also devotes significant time to pro bono activities, including his representation of the Natural Resources Defense Council and a coalition of environmental organizations challenging the U.S. Navy’s use of sonar off the California coast. In March 2008, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the preliminary injunction that Mr. Fayer argued before the U.S. District Court. In November 2008, a 5-4 majority of the U.S. Supreme Court reversed two of the six mitigation measures mandated by the injunction, but left the remainder of the injunction in place. See Winter v. Natural Resources Def. Council, 129 S.Ct. 365 (2008).

Bar Admissions

State Bar of California
Central District of California
Northern District of California
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
United States Supreme Court

Education

J.D., Columbia Law School
M.A., University of Pittsburgh (Philosophy)
M.A., University of Chicago (Philosophy)
M.T.S., Harvard Divinity School (Comparative Religion)
B.A., Midwestern State University (Psychology)

Published Decisions

Winter v. Natural Resources Def. Council, 555 U.S. , 129 S.Ct. 365 (2008)
Natural Resources Def. Council v. Winter, 518 F.3d 658 (9th Cir. 2008)
Skechers U.S.A. v. Vans, Inc., 2007 WL 4181677 (C.D. Cal. Nov. 20, 2007)

Speaking Engagements

Co-Presenter, Crisis Management (webinar sponsored by ExecSense with R. Gipson), 2010
Panelist, Entertainment Law: New York and Los Angeles, Columbia Law School, 2007
Panelist, Columbia Law Career Panel, Columbia Law School, 2007

Gipson Hoffman & Pancione