Edward M. Anderson
Attorney and Founding Shareholder
J.D. Boalt Hall, University of California at Berkeley 1998
Art Center College of Design, Illustration/Fine Art Program 1994
A.B. Stanford University 1991
Edward Anderson is the founding shareholder of Anderson Yeh PC, formerly known as Anderson General & Entertainment Law PC. He has been part of the Los Angeles legal community since 1992 and a member of the Bar since 1998. Over the course of his career, he has worked on over six hundred litigation or litigation-related matters, both entertainment industry-related and non-entertainment-related. In addition, he has been involved in negotiating or analyzing hundreds of entertainment industry contracts, particularly in the participations and distribution fields. Edward's clients have included major Hollywood studios, non-entertainment companies, and private individuals, both related to the entertainment industry and in non-industry-related work.
Edward was born in the Los Angeles area and grew up in Mendocino and Santa Cruz, California. He graduated from Stanford University in 1991 with distinction and honors and with an A.B. in Political Science. Edward's coursework at Stanford included substantial work in quantitative and qualitative economics, as well as advanced mathematics, statistics and accounting. At Stanford, Edward played football and rugby.
In 1992, Edward started work as a non-lawyer at Century City law firm Christensen, White, Miller, Fink & Jacobs. At Christensen, Edward worked on securities and corporate governance litigation stemming from the failure of a major California life insurance company and related entities, as well as a variety of entertainment and general litigation matters. He was part of the trial and appellate teams in the seminal Main Line v. Basinger case regarding the motion picture "Boxing Helena."
In 1994, while working at Christensen, Edward also completed the first two semesters of the illustration and fine art program at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena.
Edward attended law school at U.C. Berkeley's Boalt Hall on a prestigious Boalt Hall Fellowship. At Boalt, Edward received Prosser Prizes for Contracts and for Copyright & Trademarks. He served as a research assistant to Professor Melvin Eisenberg, including on measures of damages for breach of economically complex contracts. Edward received his J.D. from Boalt in 1998.
During law school, Edward summered at Rogers & Wells in Manhattan, where he worked in the securities and derivatives, insurance, and media law practice groups.
He joined White O'Connor Curry Gatti & Avanzado LLP in 1998. Edward's practice at White O'Connor included cases for various media and entertainment companies, as well as business litigation for non-media clients. At White O'Connor, Edward developed significant trial, deposition, and other litigation experience, in both multi-million dollar cases, and smaller scale matters. Among other matters, Edward took all expert depositions in a heavily litigated matter involving an oral finder's fee related to the sale of a major motion picture library; performed intensive arbitration work regarding limited partnerships in the energy sector and international film distribution; worked on copyright infringement and fair use litigation involving famous news footage; and second-chaired trial of an unfair competition dispute regarding state and municipal contracts in the transportation sector.
From late 2000 to late 2002, Edward worked at Davis Wright Tremaine LLP. At Davis Wright, Edward continued to litigate for both non-entertainment and entertainment entities, and developed a particularly close relationship with a major motion picture and television studio. Among other work, Edward had day-to-day responsibilities for litigation of a multi-forum dispute involving film and television production and distribution of a comic book property, including in first run television syndication. Edward was also part of the Davis Wright legal team representing music publishers in their copyright infringement suit against peer-to-peer file sharing services including KaZaa and Grokster -- a case eventually decided by the United States Supreme Court in an historic decision regarding vicarious and contributory copyright infringement liability.
Between February 2003 and July 2007, Edward served as in-house litigation counsel for Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc., one of the major Hollywood film and television studios. During a portion of this time, he also worked with a Century City litigation boutique, including partnering with them in copyright, trademark and right of publicity litigation to enforce the rights of a collectibles manufacturer and its celebrity principal against counterfeiters. While at Sony Pictures, Edward had day-to-day responsibilities for hundreds of litigation matters around the world, and was privileged to work with some of the best litigators in the U.S. and abroad. Among other duties at Sony Pictures, Edward worked exceptionally closely with the Participations and Participations Audit departments at the studio. He also had significant responsibilities for development and implementation of a litigation strategy to protect the worldwide release of "The Da Vinci Code" motion picture against a variety of legal attacks, both in the U.S. and in far-flung foreign jurisdictions.
Edward was named one of Southern California SuperLawyers' "Rising Stars" in 2006 and 2007.
In July 2007, Edward founded the firm, as Anderson General & Entertainment Law PC. From 2007 through early 2012, he ran the firm full-time, and was privileged to have multiple major Hollywood film and television studios as clients, as well as to work for and with other significant entertainment industry players, including smaller film production houses, A-list directors and producers, and promotional and marketing firms. Among other notable achievements, Edward handled clearance matters for an Academy Award-winning motion picture based on a true story, complex chain of title clearance for one of the most well-known science fiction properties in the industry, and defenses of a major Hollywood film and television studio in film financing disputes and participations and contract disputes involving television series showrunners. From 2010 to 2012, Edward also handled the defense in one of the industry's more famous talent agency commission disputes.
Edward's practice at the firm also includes substantial work for clients in non-entertainment-related fields, including the telehealth and food packaging industries, and general corporate governance and partnership disputes.
Over the course of his career, Edward has become highly knowledgeable about both participations and film and television distribution. In February 2012, Edward joined Twentieth Century Fox as a full time studio executive, pursuant to an invitation from the studio. While at Fox, Edward was trained to be a potential successor to the President of International Television Distribution at Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution, learning global television sales, marketing and distribution in a hands-on way, including attendance and work at MIP, MIPCOM and the LA Screenings. In 2013, Fox elevated Edward to Senior Vice President of Business Affairs with wide-ranging duties related to content distribution and technology issues. He supported the company's worldwide Television Distribution, Home Entertainment and Digital divisions, working with the company's Executive Vice President, Distribution Business Affairs, to explore, model, develop and negotiate distribution agreements and strategic partnerships related to content distribution. Edward had business affairs responsibilities for transactional, subscription and advertiser-supported distribution of film and television product across the full range of traditional and digital platforms and devices. His responsibilities included working on and developing strategic opportunities related to potential acquisitions, partnerships and joint ventures that support the worldwide distribution of content in various media, including digital and new media. In early 2014, Edward's duties were expanded to include content protection business practices and business affairs technology issues.
During his tenure at Fox, Edward maintained his practice in a minimized state pursuant to a limited duration arrangement with the studio. In December 2014, Edward elected to returned to the firm full time.
Edward continues to litigate for clients in a range of industries, to perform entertainment transactional work, and serves as a business consultant to major players in the motion picture and television industry. He also consults on the motion picture and television business for outsiders to the industry, including potential investors.