Racial BIAS in the Entertainment Industry

John R. Baldivia is a partner of Rossi, P.C., where he negotiates a wide variety of contracts for major label recording artists, songwriters, and prominent influencers. John joined Rossi, P.C. with a strong background in music transactions, as well as entertainment and intellectual property litigation.

Prior to joining Rossi, P.C., John was a partner at Pierce Law Group LLP, where he negotiated various music contracts, film contracts, and reviewed complicated copyright clearance matters. John also served as a lead plaintiff-side attorney on complex litigation issues against various film and television studios. He has litigated a variety of entertainment-related claims involving fraud, breach of contract, copyright infringement, trademark infringement, misappropriation of name and likeness, employment claims, and talent agency controversies. John has won large 6- and 7-figure judgments on behalf of his clients while working for Pierce Law Group, and in 2020 and 2021, John was named as a Super Lawyers Rising Star for Southern California.

Marjorie Garcia is a partner at the firm’s entertainment transactions department. Ms. Garcia’s practice includes the negotiation and drafting of various types of recordings agreements, publishing agreements, marketing and publicity agreements, sponsorship agreements, product endorsement and integration agreements, catalog purchase agreements, merchandising, and performance agreements.

Temitope K. Yusuf is a Vice President, Employment Law and Head of Legal Department Diversity at NBCUniversal in New York City. Tope partners with human resources and business leaders for several NBCU business units including NBC Sports, Ad Sales, Universal Studio Group and Entertainment. Tope provides day-to-day advice and counsel as well as insights on strategic goals of the business.  She is also responsible for supervising investigations into workplace misconduct and allegations of discriminatory treatment. Prior to joining NBCUniversal, Tope was a partner at Arent Fox LLP in the Labor and Employment and Government Enforcement and White Collar groups.

A graduate of the Yale Law School and a U.S Marine veteran, Professor Kevin J. Greene is the John J. Schumacher Chair Professor at Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles, California, where he teaches Copyright Law and Entertainment Law. 

Professor Greene’s award winning scholarship explores copyright, trademark and publicity rights issues, including abusive trademark litigation, idea misappropriation as a Hollywood business model, and the impact of intellectual property law on African‐American creativity. Greene was the first legal scholar to analyze how IP doctrine facilitated expropriation of African‐American music and culture. 

Professor Greene practiced law in New York at the premier firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore, representing companies such as Time Warner/HBO, and at a top New York entertainment law boutique firm, where his clients included film production companies, film director Spike Lee, and music artists including Harry Connick, Jr., Bobby Brown, and the seminal rap group Public Enemy. 

As an expert witness‐consultant in copyright and IP cases, Greene worked with funk music legend George Clinton in a landmark copyright case in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.