Karen Stetson Attorney At Law

Karen focuses her practice on entertainment law involving intellectual property - copyrights and trademarks, including litigation, prosecution, registrations, licenses and contracts - and related causes of action, unfair competition, cybersquatting, domain name disputes, antipiracy (both at the retail level and on the Internet), royalty disputes, right of publicity and defamation issues, licensing and distribution matters, artist agreement disputes, and publishing agreement disputes.

Representative clients include the Recording Industry Association of America; Universal Music Group; Sony BMG Music Entertainment; RCA Record Label; Gloria and Emilio Estefan; Warner Chappell Publishing; Motion Picture Association of America; William Roberts ("Rick Ross"); Curtis Jackson ("50 Cent"), Marshall Mathers ("Eminem"), Timothy Mosley ("Timbaland") and Benito Antonio Ocasio ("Bad Bunny").

• Background

  Karen has been a practicing attorney in South Florida since 1986. She served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Sidney Aronovitz at the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

• Awards and Recognitions
  • AV Preeminent®, Martindale-Hubbell
  • Florida Super Lawyers, 2016-2017
• Reported Cases
  • Representing Latin Rapper, Bad Bunny, in NIL Suit Against Hialeah-Based Unbranded Brewing Company for illegally using his name, image and likeness to market one of its brews.
  • Prosecuted large-scale copyright infringement action against Amway Corp. and 82 defendants located in eight jurisdictions, culminating in $9 million settlement; Received Honorary Gold Record Award from the Recording Industry Association of America in recognition of result obtained
  • Prosecuted international scheme to defraud involving the sale of nonexistent license rights, culminating in judgment in the amount of $13.7 million; case established important precedent for sound recordings not covered by the Copyright Act
  • Defended the Estefans against claims by former songwriter on royalty and contract issues, culminating in payment by songwriter of $1 million and public apology for having filed claims
  • Handled numerous multistate copyright infringement lawsuits involving physical piracy, one of which resulted in the entry of a judgment of more than $4.4 million and reported decision Arista Records, et al. v. Beker Enterprises, Inc., 298 F. Supp. 2d 1310 (S.D. Fla. 2003); case established important precedent for amounts awardable per work for willful infringement
  • Handled complex contract dispute on behalf of Polygram Records, resulting in the expedited release and distribution of an album by Grammy Award-winning artist
  • Extensive experience litigating music and entertainment industry intellectual property cases, with reported decisions including: Roberts v. Gordy, 877 F. 3d 1024 (11^th Cir. 2017); Jackson v. Odenat, 9 F. Supp. 3d 342 (S.D.N.Y. 2014); Kernel Records Oy v. Mosley, 794 F. Supp. 2d 1355 (S.D. Fla. 2011) aff’d 694 F.3d 1294 (11^th Cir. 2012) cert. denied 133 S. Ct. 1810 (2013); Saregama India Ltd. v. Mosley, 687 F. Supp. 2d 1325 (S.D. Fla. 2009), affirmed, 635 F.3d 1284 (11^th Cir. 2011); Sony Music Entertainment, Inc. v. Global Arts Productions, 45 F. Supp. 2d 1345 (S.D. Fla. 1999); Lil' Joe Wein Music, Inc. v. Jackson, No. 06-20079, 2006 WL 5428227 (S.D. Fla. Oct. 27, 2006), affirmed, 245 Fed. Appx. 873 (11th Cir. 2007); Mattocks v. Black Entertainment Television LLC, 43 F. Supp. 3d 1311 (S.D. Fla. 2014); Disney Enterprises, Inc. v. Hotfile Corp., 2013 WL 6336286 (S.D. Fla. 2013); Foreign Imported Productions and Pub., Inc. v. Grupo Indus. Hotelero, S.A., Case No. 07-22066-CIV, S.D. Fla. 2009 WL 10669188 (S.D. Fla. 2009); Jackson v. Grupo Indus. Hotelero, S.A., 2009 WL 8634834 (S.D. Fla. 2009).
  
  
• Presentations and Seminars
  • Panelist, "Powerhouse Women Panel," University of Miami School of Law, October 27, 2016
  • "Trademark Controversy, Celebrity Product Endorsement Deals, Copyright Ability of Tattoo Art," Entertainment and Sports Law Symposium, University of Florida Levin College of Law, April 4, 2016
• Media
  • "Justices Take Up Copyright Damages Row," Law360, September 29, 2023
  • "Fla. Musician Asks 11th Circ. For IP Damages Past 3-Year Limit," Law360, January 19, 2023
• Admissions
  • Florida
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of Florida
  • U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida
  • U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida
• Professional Associations and Memberships
  • The Florida Bar
    • Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law Section
  • Dade County Bar Association
  • American Bar Association
    • Intellectual Property Law Section
    • Business Torts Section
  • American Judicature Society
  • International Anti-Piracy Coalition
• Education
  • University of Miami School of Law, J.D. (cum laude, 1986)
    • University of Miami Law Review, Articles and Comments Editor
  • University of Miami, B.A. (magna cum laude, 1983)