Dale Nelson
Dale joined the firm in 2019 as a clearance and intellectual property law specialist. A skillful and experienced problem-solver and a passionate advocate for free speech, Dale works with independent filmmakers, documentarians, podcasters, and artists to help them tell their stories – and express their art – their way. Prior to joining the firm, Dale spent over 25 years as in-house counsel at Warner Bros., most recently as Vice President and Senior Intellectual Property Counsel. At Warner Bros., she handled a wide variety of domestic and international intellectual property law and transactional matters across all business divisions of the company, providing advice and managing resolution on rights disputes, clearance, distribution, marketing, production, piracy, IP policy and legislative matters. The intellectual properties she managed included franchise properties such as Harry Potter and DC Comics, new feature and television series, and library classics. Prior to joining Warner Bros., Dale was a litigator with Los Angeles based firm Lyon & Lyon, handling trademark, copyright and patent cases, and prosecuting trademarks and copyrights for a varied industry client base. Dale has a particular expertise in international laws relating to copyright, trademark, rights of publicity, moral rights, free speech and fair use. She is a frequent speaker, writer, lecturer, and panelist on a wide range of media and intellectual property topics, and has lectured at numerous universities and law schools including Harvard, Stanford, UC Berkeley, UCLA, USC, Southwestern, Loyola, and the University of Barcelona. Dale is currently a Forbes contributor on legal topics affecting the entertainment industry.
Notable projects include:
The Greatest Night in Pop
The Last Showgirl
Grand Theft Hamlet
Daughters
Milli Vanilli
Preconceived
Kokomo City
Another Body
Hunger Ward
The Lost Leonardo
Larry Flynt for President
The Rifleman
The Truffle Hunters
Disclosure
Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Cusp
Arthur Jafa’s – The White Album, AGHDRA, BG
Dale was raised in Green Bay, Wisconsin and is a loyal Packer fan. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin – Madison, her J.D. from the University of San Francisco School of Law, and was an extern to Justice Allen E. Broussard of the California Supreme Court. Her affiliations include AIPPI/AIPLA, of which she is former President of AIPPI-US, and Vice Chair of the Standing Committee on Copyright; Media Law Resource Center; the Los Angeles Copyright Society; and the Copyright Society of the USA. Dale is also a long-time supporter of the Western Center on Law and Poverty, of which she is a former board member and current Endowment Board Member and of the Independent Shakespeare Company, of which she is a Board Member. Dale raised her two sons in Los Angeles but now splits her time between L.A. and Santa Ynez, where she shares a horse with her partner, Bob, and her dog, Joey.