Copyright Lit Exit Options Forum
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Anonymous User
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Copyright Lit Exit Options
Hello friends. I am a mid-level litigator and focus on copyright and trademark litigation. I have been feeling burnt out and was wondering what kind of exit options there are for someone with my experience. What kind of in-house options could I consider?
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Anonymous User
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Re: Copyright Lit Exit Options
Not in-house, but I have been on the job hunt for nearly two years and have a pretty good sense of what's out there after having looked at goinhouse, linkedin, ziprecruiter, and indeed every single day.
First, as you've probably seen or been told, the VAST majority of in-house roles are for folks with transactional experience. So if you haven't started looking yet, prepare yourself for that. 99% of companies don't need to pay the overhead of having a full-time copyright litigator on staff. They are looking for people who can mitigate risk and help the business get from A to Z while increasing profitability. To the extent you have any non-lit, advising experience, that's important to emphasize.
Second, while the vast majority of in-house recruiters are likely going to throw your resume right into the trash, there are a handful of jobs out there that would value soft IP experience. Every so often you'll see a posting for a true "trademark counsel". I've seen these positions open up for movie/content production companies, and even big banks, often in Southern California. However, these roles are almost always looking for TM prosecution experience in addition to lit, so to the extent you have that as well, great. If not, maybe try to get some. Other times you might see roles for "content protection" or "product counsel" roles that want some copyright experience. These might be social media companies (you can guess which) or places like Spotify. These roles will often be after DMCA experience, intermediary liability experience, and interested in Section 230 experience as well.
Third, there are a handful of places that want some variation of marketing counsel (false advertising) or counsel that can handle more press-related issues, like First Amendment, defamation, etc., that might look kindly on some copyright lit experience. If you want to go down that road, you would have to find ways to get that specific experience for your resume.
Other than that, it is going to be rough out there. Don't hesitate to send out a TON of applications and certainly don't expect to send out a single application and have a sweet gig locked up in a month. Moving in house is highly competitive, doubly so when you are fighting for the handful of positions that would even consider a copyright/TM litigator.
Best of luck.
First, as you've probably seen or been told, the VAST majority of in-house roles are for folks with transactional experience. So if you haven't started looking yet, prepare yourself for that. 99% of companies don't need to pay the overhead of having a full-time copyright litigator on staff. They are looking for people who can mitigate risk and help the business get from A to Z while increasing profitability. To the extent you have any non-lit, advising experience, that's important to emphasize.
Second, while the vast majority of in-house recruiters are likely going to throw your resume right into the trash, there are a handful of jobs out there that would value soft IP experience. Every so often you'll see a posting for a true "trademark counsel". I've seen these positions open up for movie/content production companies, and even big banks, often in Southern California. However, these roles are almost always looking for TM prosecution experience in addition to lit, so to the extent you have that as well, great. If not, maybe try to get some. Other times you might see roles for "content protection" or "product counsel" roles that want some copyright experience. These might be social media companies (you can guess which) or places like Spotify. These roles will often be after DMCA experience, intermediary liability experience, and interested in Section 230 experience as well.
Third, there are a handful of places that want some variation of marketing counsel (false advertising) or counsel that can handle more press-related issues, like First Amendment, defamation, etc., that might look kindly on some copyright lit experience. If you want to go down that road, you would have to find ways to get that specific experience for your resume.
Other than that, it is going to be rough out there. Don't hesitate to send out a TON of applications and certainly don't expect to send out a single application and have a sweet gig locked up in a month. Moving in house is highly competitive, doubly so when you are fighting for the handful of positions that would even consider a copyright/TM litigator.
Best of luck.
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Anonymous User
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Re: Copyright Lit Exit Options
What PP said, particularly on the marketing counsel in-house positions.
As someone with a similar background to you who went in-house to one of those roles, do you have any experience with disputes between companies at the National Advertising Division or in court about comparative advertising claims? If so, there are definitely in-house roles that dedicate a significant amount of time on that. For instance, Coca-Cola, P&G, etc.
As someone with a similar background to you who went in-house to one of those roles, do you have any experience with disputes between companies at the National Advertising Division or in court about comparative advertising claims? If so, there are definitely in-house roles that dedicate a significant amount of time on that. For instance, Coca-Cola, P&G, etc.
