Arnold P. Lutzker

EDUCATION

Harvard Law School, J.D., cum laude (1971)
City College of New York, B.A., magna cum laude (1968)

BAR ADMISSIONS

Building on decades of experience in intellectual property law, policy and education in Washington, D.C., Arnold Lutzker is as zealous and creative in helping clients protect and manage their traditional copyright and trademark portfolios as he is in addressing the constantly evolving legal issues presented by new media.

On a daily basis he counsels clients engaged in a wide variety of creative pursuits, including film, television, publishing, photography, music, entertainment, arts and e-commerce as well as more conventional businesses, on the strategic exploitation of their intellectual property. When infringement and other disputes arise, he works to resolve them pragmatically and efficiently. In cases where informal resolutions are not possible, he is an ardent and effective litigator. Esteemed in the intellectual property field for his expertise, problem-solving and litigation and advocacy skills (a long-time “Super Lawyer,” as voted by his colleagues), as well as his background in drafting and advocating for key copyright legislation, he is often brought into cases by other attorneys to provide specialized intellectual property services.

Arnie is the president of the global law network INBLF (International Network of Boutique and Independent Law Firms). He has been instrumental in organizing INBLF’s participation in the SelectUSA Investment Summit (2016-2021) with speaking roles at many Summits. SelectUSA invited him to make presentations to entrepreneurs as part of SelectUSA Road Shows in Brazil (2015) and the Nordic Region (2018) and he has been a key participant in forging INBLF relationships with Commercial Service staff in U.S. embassies around the world.

Arnie has long been an advocate for moral rights of film directors. In the 1980s he led the challenge by the Directors Guild of America (DGA) and the Film Foundation to protect classic American movies by affording directors moral rights in their works, both on Capitol Hill and through litigation in Europe. He was instrumental in the passage of the National Film Preservation Act.

Prior to establishing Lutzker & Lutzker with his wife, Susan Lutzker, he was a principal in the Washington law firm of Fish & Richardson, P.C. and a partner in Dow, Lohnes & Albertson, where he had a varied copyright and trademark practice. In the legislative area, Arnie has represented a consortium of national library associations in the drafting of key copyright law provisions which are at the heart of many of the unresolved new media issues making headlines every day: the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act (CTEA) and the TEACH Act.

AREAS OF EXPERTISE

HONORS AND POSITIONS

• Chairman and President, INBLF (International Network of Boutique and Independent Law Firms)
• Vice Chair and national Board member, INBLF; D.C. Chapter President
• Recipient of the INBLF 2012 Larry Koltun Memorial award, given each year to the INBLF member who most exemplifies the spirit of congeniality and collegiality that characterized the late DC chapter president
• Washington, D.C. “Super Lawyer” in the field of Intellectual Property; including listing in Corporate Counsel edition of “Super Lawyers”
• Vice-Chair and national Board member, FilmFest DC
• President, Cultural Treasures Foundation
• Chairman, General Counsel and Board Member of the Cultural Alliance of Greater Washington/Culture Capital

PUBLICATIONS AND SPEECHES

BOOKS

• Content Rights for Creative Professionals: Copyrights and Trademarks in a Digital Age, Focal Press, 2002, also published in Russian and Chinese editions
• Copyrights and Trademarks for Media Professionals, Focal Press, 1997
• Legal Problems in Broadcasting, Great Plains University Press, 1974

DVD SERIES

• “Copyright Compliance” (Chip Taylor Communications, 2006)
• “Copyrights: The Internet, Multimedia and the Law” (Chip Taylor Communications, 1997)

ARTICLES

• “Altering the Contours of Copyright: The DMCA and the Unanswered Questions of Paramount v. 321 Studios,” 21 Santa Clara Computer & High Technology Law Journal 561, Co-Author with Susan Lutzker, 2005
• “Orphan Works: Defining the Problem, Finding a Solution,” Marcasur.com, January 23, 2007
• Case study included in “Artists, Technology & the Ownership of Creative Content,” Norman Lear Center, University of Southern California, 2003
• Primer on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, 1998
• Testimony at Hearing on Exemption to Prohibition on Circumvention of Copyright Protection Systems for Access Control Technologies, United States Copyright Office, Library of Congress, May 4, 2000.
• Quarterly Reports, AIME Newsletter, 2001- present

REPRESENTATIVE SPEECHES

• “Protecting You Privacy and Online Identity,” presented in Swampscott, Massachusetts, May 2019
• “Managing Risk to Maximize Success,” presented at SelectUSA Investment Summit, June 2018
• “United States Legal System for Foreign Investors,” presented in Finland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark as part of SelectUSA Nordic Road Show, April 2018
• “Critical Legal Issues: Defining and Protecting Your Intellectual Property,” D.C. Startup Week, September 2017
• “Safeguarding Innovation for Foreign Investors,” presented at SelectUSA Investment Summit, June 2017
• “United States Legal System for Foreign Investors,” presented in Rio de Janeiro, San Paolo and Belo Horizonte, Brazil as part of SelectUSA Brazil Road Show, December 2015
• University of Maryland (UMUC) Center for Intellectual Property Symposium: “Sustaining Culture in Copyright – The Future of Fair Use” 2010
• D.C. Bar Fair Use Forum, 2006
• D.C. Bar Forum on Pop-Up Ads, 2004
• University of Maryland University College: Distance Learning Seminars on IP, 2003-2010
• U.S. State Department: Retained as expert to provide lectures on copyright law to judges, educators and media in Thailand, 2002