Richard Dannay is counsel with Cowan, Liebowitz & Latman, P.C., in New York City. He practices in the areas of copyright, publishing and trademark law, and libel, privacy, and publicity rights.

Past president of The Copyright Society of the U.S.A. and one of its Honorary Trustees. Former chair of the New York City Bar Committee on Copyright and Literary Property.

Presented the 37th Annual Donald C. Brace Memorial Lecture (Nov. 2007): “Copyright Injunctions and Fair Use: Enter eBay -- Four-Factor Fatigue or Four-Factor Freedom?” (Copyright Society of U.S.A.); published at 55 Copyright Society Journal 449 (2008).

Author, “Factorless Fair Use? Was Melville Nimmer Right?” published at 60 Copyright Society Journal 127 (2013) in special issue honoring 50th anniversary of Nimmer on Copyright treatise.

Lead counsel for the prevailing parties in the following reported cases:

• Bill Graham Archives v. Dorling Kindersley Limited, 448 F.3d 605 (2d Cir. 2006) (affirming summary judgment for defendant publisher that “thumbnail” reproductions of seven concert posters in Grateful Dead biography are transformative fair use).
• Penguin Group (USA) Inc. v. Steinbeck, 537 F.3d 193 (2d Cir. 2008), cert. denied, 129 S. Ct. 2383 (2009) (John Steinbeck’s son’s Sec. 304(d) termination notice invalidated; Penguin’s agreement for Steinbeck works, including The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men, held valid, not “agreement to the contrary”).
• Silverstein v. Penguin Putnam Inc., 368 F.3d 77 (2d Cir. 2004) and 522 F. Supp. 2d 579 (S.D.N.Y. 2007) (compilation copyright for all of Dorothy Parker’s previously uncollected poems unenforceable because no creativity in “selection” of “all”; significant Second Circuit pre-eBay ruling on permanent injunctions).
• Williams v. Crichton, 84 F.3d 581 (2d Cir. 1996) (successful defense of copyright infringement suit against Jurassic Park novel and movie).
• Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. and Boy Scouts of America v. Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc., 996 F.2d 1477 (2d Cir. 1993), aff'g 808 F. Supp. 1112 (S.D.N.Y. 1992) (successful defense of trademark infringement suit against “Pee Wee Scouts” children’s series, involving First Amendment issues).
• Arica Institute, Inc. v. Palmer and Harper & Row Publishers, 970 F.2d 1067 (2d Cir. 1992) (successful "fact estoppel" and fair use defenses).
• Adsani v. Miller, 139 F.3d 67 (2d Cir. 1998) (appellate security bond for “costs” includes potential attorney’s fees under Copyright Act; case of first impression).
• Penguin Group (USA) Inc. v. American Buddha, 609 F.3d 30 (2d Cir. 2010), 16 N.Y. 3d 295 (2011) (on certified question), 640 F. 3d 497 (2d Cir. 2011) (NY long-arm jurisdiction ruling supporting fight of publishers and authors against online digital piracy).
• Postlewaite v. McGraw-Hill, Inc., 411 F.3d 63 (2d Cir. 2005) (dismissal of law professor’s breach of contract suit against treatise publisher).
• Hoch and Marble v. MasterCard International and McCann-Erickson, 284 F. Supp. 2d 1217 (D. Minn. 2003) (successful defense of copyright infringement suit against series of baseball-related “priceless” television commercials).
• Adsani v. Miller, 1996 WL 194326 and 1996 WL 531858 (S.D.N.Y. 1996) (successful defense of copyright infringement suit against author and publishers of “Princess Sultana” books, including recovery of full attorneys’ fees).

Chair of PLI’s annual Advanced Copyright Law program 1991 – 2019.

Harvard Law School (LL.B., 1964). Harvard College (A.B., magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, 1961).