Brian G. Murphy

Brian G. Murphy is a partner and Co-Chair of the Advertising, Marketing & Public Relations Group at Frankfurt Kurnit, where he counsels advertising agencies, advertisers, and entertainment companies as they develop and produce advertising and entertainment properties across all media.

Mr. Murphy has been named the 2018 and 2025 “Lawyer of the Year” for Advertising Law by Best Lawyers in America.

His practice focuses on copyright, trademark, right of publicity/right of privacy, false advertising, unfair competition, and defamation. Mr. Murphy negotiates and structures celebrity talent agreements, agency-client contracts, sponsorship arrangements, product integration deals, and music, film, and other content licenses. He assists clients in the development and execution of complex contests, sweepstakes, and charitable promotions and programs, including those involving user-generated content that are developed for social media, interactive, and mobile platforms. In addition, Mr. Murphy regularly advises clients on the development and production of branded entertainment projects, such as television shows, films, live events, electronic games, webisodes, mobisodes, and websites.

Mr. Murphy is a frequent and popular speaker on advertising, entertainment, and intellectual property issues. In the recent past, he has given presentations at the 2009 American Bar Association Annual Meeting (“Listen to the Sound of Music: Anatomy of a Copyright Infringement Lawsuit”), the New York City Bar Association’s Current Developments in Copyright Law Program (“The Wonderful World of User Generated Content”), the Significant Developments in Intellectual Property Law of Computers and Cyberspace at the University of Dayton School of Law (“Fair Use 2009: Should the Internet, Digital Media and User Generated Content Change Our Analysis?”), the Copyright Society (“Copyright, Lanham Act, Right of Publicity, and Contract Claims Arising from the Use of Music in Commercials”), the New York State Bar Association (“Keeping it Real: The Use of People, Places, and Things in Works of Entertainment”), the American Conference Institute’s (ACI) “Branded Integration Deals” conference (“Working with Talent and Talent Unions”), ACI’s 21st Corporate Counsel Forum on Advertising Law (“Leveraging Rights and Maximizing Bargaining Power When Negotiating the Agency/Client Agreement”), and New York Law School (“The Slinky Dress: Secondary Liability and the Future of Digital Innovation”).

Mr. Murphy previously taught courses on entertainment, copyright and intellectual property at Fordham University Law School and New York Law School and has lectured at the Parsons School of Design. He is a member of the Copyright Society of the U.S.A.; the Entertainment, Arts & Sports Law Section of the New York State Bar Association; the Promotion Marketing Association; and the American Bar Association Intellectual Property Section’s Special Committee on Promotions and Marketing Law.

Mr. Murphy clerked for the Hon. Leonard B. Sand, United States District Judge in the Southern District of New York. He is admitted to practice in New York.

Brian G. Murphy

Brian G. Murphy is a partner and Co-Chair of the Advertising, Marketing & Public Relations Group at Frankfurt Kurnit, where he counsels advertising agencies, advertisers, and entertainment companies as they develop and produce advertising and entertainment properties across all media.

Areas of Expertise

Recent Recognition

Education

Contact

Brian G. Murphy

Brian G. Murphy is a partner and Co-Chair of the Advertising, Marketing & Public Relations Group at Frankfurt Kurnit, where he counsels advertising agencies, advertisers, and entertainment companies as they develop and produce advertising and entertainment properties across all media.

Areas of Expertise

Recent Recognition

Education

Contact

Insights

Events

AI-Driven Advertising: Copyright Issues in the New Frontier

All Ohio Annual Institute on Intellectual Property.

33rd All Ohio Annual Institute on Intellectual Property

Current Trends in Intellectual Property and Advertising Law

GALA Conference: Global Advertising in an Age of Crisis and Change

11th AMPPI’s International Conference

2021 ANA/BAA Marketing Law Conference

The 30th All Ohio Annual Institute on Intellectual Property – Day 2

The 30th All Ohio Annual Institute on Intellectual Property

OTT.X 2020 Summit

Extreme Reach: Business Affairs Industry Panel

News

Brian G. Murphy Named “Lawyer of the Year” for Advertising Law in NYC

The Generative AI Journey Continues

Photographer Cannot Recover Profits Based on the Use of Infringing Image in Advertising

The Girl with the Tiger King Tattoo Loses Copyright Infringement Lawsuit Against Netflix

Works Published in 1927 Enter the Public Domain in the U.S.

It’s That (SAG-AFTRA) Time of Year …

Frankfurt Kurnit in The Legal 500 2021

A Deeper Dive into the New SAG-AFTRA Influencer Waiver and Influencer Agreement

Frankfurt Kurnit in The Legal 500 2020

Temporary Waiver Regarding the Use of Stock Footage under the SAG-AFTRA Commercials Contract

R.I.P. Inverse Ratio Rule: Skidmore v. Led Zeppelin

5 Tips for Advertisers on Using Material in the Public Domain