Practice Areas

ENTERTAINMENT, MEDIA & INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

C. Stewart Verdery, Andrew Howell, Jessica Herrera-Flanigan, Timothy E. Punke, Scott Corley, Rich Thomas, Jane Alonso, Lora Ries, and Ryan Spangler

The regulatory and business issues facing the entertainment, media and intellectual property industries are complex and ever changing. The Monument Policy Group brings an interdisciplinary approach critical for policymaking in today’s multimedia interconnected world. Our partners and professional staff have worked on nearly every aspect of policy debates affecting how Americans utilize technology, communicate, and enjoy movies, music, and other entertainment products.

Emerging technologies in today’s digital age have blurred the lines of media and communications policies, creating challenges for those producing and distributing content in these industries.  Interactive distribution platforms with multiple regulatory schemes have created new challenges for broadcasters, satellite providers, networks, music, video, and games producers, and their trade associations.  In addition, other organizations such as production houses, content creators and owners, cable operators, and online and video providers have had to adapt to this new digital regime.

We have assisted a variety of clients -- from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies -- in understanding the federal regulatory and legislative environments affecting entertainment and media.  Among the issues we advise clients on are intellectual property matters, including patent reform, online piracy, copyright and trademark issues unique to convergent technologies, and data protection. We have worked extensively on policy matters relating to the Internet, satellite, media concentration, broadcast ownership, behavioral advertising, privacy, and digital television.

We assist our clients in developing and implementing the policy initiatives, relationship building and brand profile needed to succeed. Our efforts include spotting potential issues before they become problematic, allowing our clients to develop smart policies on complicated subjects that are critical to their businesses. When needed, we build industry coalitions to design and implement legislative and regulatory strategies to solve problems unique to specific entertainment and media industries. 

Our team includes Founder and Partner Stewart Verdery, who has represented companies on copyright, antitrust, Internet, telecommunications, and sales issues. Stewart was the lead Republican lobbyist for the international media giant Vivendi Universal and their subsidiaries such as Universal Studios and Universal Music Group focusing on copyright protection, media concentration, and Internet issues.  Previously, he also served as General Counsel to Senate Assistant Majority Leader Don Nickles (R-OK), during which time he was the co-director of the Senate Republican High Tech Task Force, the leadership’s outreach organization to technology industries.  Stewart also served as Assistant Secretary at the Department of Homeland Security in the Border and Transportation Security Directorate, where he was intimately involved with anti-piracy initiatives.

Partner Jessica Herrera-Flanigan started her career as a communications attorney, working on issues affecting television and radio broadcasters.  She worked on numerous FCC issues and represented local broadcasters on cable and satellite copyright matters at the Library of Congress. Jessica left private practice to serve as Senior Counsel to the Computer Crime & Intellectual Property Section, Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice, where she worked on curbing Internet piracy and prosecuting criminal intellectual property and cybercrime cases.  Jessica's most recent government service was as Staff Director & General Counsel of the House Committee on Homeland Security, where she oversaw the Committee’s legislative, policy, and oversight activities, including intellectual property piracy and cybersecurity.  

Senior Vice President Scott Corley spent five years as Microsoft’s lead Republican lobbyist in the Senate, covering a wide variety of intellectual property issues, including digital rights management, digital copyright issues, and patent reform. Additionally, Scott worked closely with key committees in Congress on topics ranging from media convergence and paid advertising to the treatment of Internet radio services and copyright. During his time as a senior technology staffer in both the United States Senate and House of Representatives, Scott was actively engaged in legislation surrounding media ownership, digital watermarking, and antipiracy on the Internet.

Monument Policy Group maintains close relationships with key Congressional members and committees with jurisdiction over the entertainment, media, and sports industries, including the Senate and House Judiciary, Senate Commerce and House Energy and Commerce, Senate Finance, House Ways and Means, and Senate and House Appropriations Committees. We also have excellent relationships with agencies such as the Federal Communications Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Department of Commerce, the U.S. Department of Justice, and White House offices with relevant roles.

REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS

• Supported the leading satellite radio company on issues relating to copyright, telecommunications, and antitrust

• Represent the association whose members include video game manufacturers and publishers on its Washington D.C. agenda relating to a number of issues including broadband, FCC and FTC regulation, and content regulation.

• Advocate on behalf of Fortune 50 software, entertainment, and media company on a wide range of high-tech issues, including broadband, Internet, gaming, and cybersecurity. 

• Represent a Silicon Valley media distribution company on issues relating to broadband, net neutrality, privacy, and related high-tech issues.

• Advised a Pacific Northwest company on digital watermarking and other content-protection technologies.

• Represent association composed of leading high technology companies committed to addressing the global impact of the gray market and counterfeiting of goods on the technology industry. 

SELECT CLIENTS

Among the clients we have represented in the media, entertainment, and intellectual property areas are Microsoft, XM Satellite Radio, Netflix, Entertainment Software Association, Digimarc, and the Alliance for Gray Market and Counterfeit Abatement.