Litigation is enough to strike fear in the hearts of defendants and plaintiffs alike. However, in this complex world, beset with an intellectual property arms race across technology, media, and other creative industries, the need to use the law to safeguard such interests is greater than ever before — and for many, you’d be surprised what your rights may include.

In the past few years, I have represented The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air star Alfonso Ribeiro, along with choreographer Kyle Hanagami, saxophonist Leo P, dancer and social media personality Russell “Backpack Kid” Horning, and rappers 2 Milly and Blocboy JB, among others. My representation was not for the typical celebrity legal fare. It was for something far more important: their stock-in-trade. My clients claimed the games developer, Epic Games, copied and sold their dance moves within its massively popular battle royale title “Fortnite” without permission or compensation.

While some of my clients were successful in receiving fair and reasonable compensation — and proper recognition — for their misappropriated likenesses and infringed works, others are still fighting. This is in large part the raison d’etre for my law firm, Hecht Partners LLP, which goes toe-to-toe each day with adversaries, like Epic Games, who in most cases, are represented by some of the most respected counsel in the country. While we frequently achieve significant wins in our cases, these results are not the sole driving force for our firm. We hope to spread awareness that creatives and inventors — large, small and in all forms — need not be afraid to secure rights to their intellectual property and enforce it against corporate behemoths.

Copyrighting movement is about putting the power back in the artist’s hands. We set a historic precedent when we registered the choreography to “Single Ladies – Put a Ring On It” on behalf of another firm client, JaQuel Knight, and we are ready, willing and able to assist the next generation of creatives (and inventors) to afford them same resources and representation to survive and thrive. Hecht Partners LLP also has significant experience in high-tech cases, which typically involve complex technologies. Nearly every case we take on is a David vs. Goliath battle, and we are often on the offense. These days, the defense bar really digs in their heels, even when a case is weak – which makes our job even more difficult. But we are relentless.