Media Entertainment and Sports
Media, Entertainment and Sports Practice
The lawyers in the Media, Entertainment and Sports Practice Group at Haynes Boone handle the gamut of issues faced by companies and organizations in these industries. Our interdisciplinary team represents clients ranging from sports franchises and stadium builders, to publishers and broadcasters, to media companies, to artists and content creators, to cable, cellular and internet service providers.
We have a deep appreciation for the practical needs of in-house counsel and executives to complete deals and projects with trust and confidence. The media and entertainment industry continues to evolve. New technological advancements are increasing the demand for new programming formats with innovative production capabilities. We have extensive experience with high profile media and entertainment transactions in this ever changing business environment
We understand the high-stakes, multimillion-dollar nature of providing entertainment to the masses, whether in person or digitally.
For sports teams, including clients such as the National Football League and a National Hockey League franchise, our services include:
- Development and financing of sports facilities
- Licensing, sponsorship and marketing of team memorabilia merchandise
- Advisory and tactical support during player contract negotiations
For our media clients, which include A&E Television Networks, Star Magazine and The New York Times Company, we routinely handle matters involving:
- Trademark and copyright issues
- Libel and defamation
- Invasion of privacy
- Licensing and other issues relating to online publishing, advertising and working with freelance writers and photographers
Our lawyers also advise entertainment companies on a variety of deals and financing transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, initial public offerings and working capital lines of credit. Our corporate media and entertainment transactions lawyers routinely handle matters involving:
- Television and motion picture production transactions
- Media broadcast and distribution transactions
- Live event productions
- Social media influencer and endorsement transactions
- Streaming media transactions
- Travel and hospitality
Recent client successes include:
- Book People, Inc. et al. v. Wong, et al., Case No., 91 F.4th 318 (5th Cir. 2024) – affirming preliminary injunction of portions of HB 900 (READER Act) requiring booksellers to rate every book ever sold to Texas public schools based on unconstitutionally vague definitions of “sexually explicit” and “sexually relevant.” The 5th Circuit held these portions of the Act were unconstitutional compelled speech. The ruling withstood a sua sponte request for en banc reconsideration.
- Alarid Felix v. Bleecker Street Media LLC, No. 2:24-cv-00775, (E.D. Tex.) - Haynes Boone successfully secured the voluntary dismissal of a copyright lawsuit in which the plaintiff alleged his copyright on his Spanish language novel was infringed by our clients, the producers and distributors of the English language movie Jules. We filed a motion to dismiss on behalf of all defendants and worked to encourage the plaintiff to voluntarily dismiss his lawsuit by both presenting him with evidence and argument of our clients’ non-liability and by challenging him to demonstrate his burden to avoid dismissal. As a result, within one week of receiving our discovery requests, the plaintiff dropped the suit, avoiding costly litigation (including discovery) and securing a swift, favorable result for our clients.
- In re: Aubrey Drake Graham, No. 2024CI26782 (225th Dist. Ct., Bexar County) - Haynes Boone successfully defended iHeartMedia against a request for pre-suit discovery filed by the hip-hop artist Drake. Drake filed Rule 202 Petitions seeking documents and depositions from both iHeartMedia and United Music Group (UMG), related to Kendrick Lamar’s hit song “Not Like Us,” which contains significant criticism of Drake. Prior to filing our Texas Citizens Participation Act (TCPA) motion to dismiss, Drake’s counsel agreed to discuss a potential resolution and eventually dropped the Rule 202 Petition in its entirety.
- Dow Jones & Co., Inc. v. Harris, 749 F. Supp. 3d 776 (W.D. Tex. 2024) - Haynes Boone successfully represented Dow Jones & Company, Inc., the publisher of The Wall Street Journal and Barron’s, in a copyright infringement and breach-of-contract case against Thomas Britton Harris IV, the former CEO of the University of Texas/Texas A&M Investment Management Company. After discovery, the Western District of Texas granted Dow Jones’ motion for summary judgment and held that Mr. Harris infringed Dow Jones’ copyrights as a matter of law by reproducing and distributing at least 6,186 WSJ and Barron’s articles without authorization over a period of nearly ten years in a daily newsletter distributed to more than 800 recipients. The Court also found that Mr. Harris breached his subscriber agreement with Dow Jones.
- City of Dallas v. Paxton, No. 15-24-00081-CV, 2025 WL 2701155 (Tex. App.—Austin [15th Dist.] Aug. 21, 2025) - Haynes Boone represented The Dallas Morning News in a Texas Public Information Act case involving a public information request made by the newspaper to the City of Dallas for records related to low-income housing tax credits. The City of Dallas requested a ruling from the Texas Attorney General on the request and sued in the District Court to withhold the records. The Fifteenth Court of Appeals ruled in favor of The Dallas Morning News, ordered that the records must be released, and upheld an award of attorney’s fees.
- Escobedo v. Orellana, No. 25-50124, 2025 WL 2105282 (5th Cir. July 28, 2025) - Haynes Boone successfully represented KSAT, the local television station in Bexar County and subsidiary of Graham Media, in a lawsuit filed against it over its reporting on the plaintiff’s involvement in a self-reported domestic dispute that resulted in her boyfriend’s death and her arrest for tampering with physical evidence with intent to impair. The plaintiff filed multiple lawsuits in state and federal court asserting time-barred defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress claims. In October 2024, the Western District of Texas granted KSAT’s motion to dismiss and entered a final judgment. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed.
