About Tami Kameda Sims

Tami Sims protects the intellectual property and free speech rights of entertainment and media companies. As a close advisor to her clients, she steers them away from potential disputes before they evolve into lawsuits. When litigation is unavoidable, she guides her clients through every step of the lawsuit, including trial and appeal, if necessary. Ultimately, she helps her clients resolve legal issues so that they can focus on sharing their creative and expressive works with the world.

A champion for entertainment and media companies

For entertainment and media companies, Tami acts as a first line of legal defense. Through proactive work like advising on content and performing rights analysis, she helps them avoid costly legal battles in the future. She is well respected in the entertainment community for her in-depth knowledge of copyright law and of entertainment-specific issues like idea-submission disputes. She also regularly litigates disputes involving California's anti-SLAPP statue, violations of the rights of publicity and privacy, defamation, and the First Amendment.

Whatever specific issues her clients face, Tami offers value in her well-rounded counsel. She is capable of crafting complex legal arguments, but also adept at coming up with practical solutions. Her case strategies are always informed by the business goals most important to her clients.

For issues worth fighting over, Tami has the experience and ability to design arguments that can withstand judicial scrutiny. As a former law clerk on the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, she understands how to approach issues of first impression and deal with unfavorable precedent. That experience paid off, for instance, in a defamation suit over an episode of CSI, resulting in one of the first published opinions to find a fictional work to be protected activity under California's anti-SLAAP statute. That decision is one of many instances in which the groundwork that Tami laid paid significant dividends for her client.

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Practice Focus

  • Intellectual property litigation
  • Copyright and trademark issues
  • Music royalty disputes
  • Idea-submission cases and other disputes specific to the entertainment industry
  • First Amendment issues
  • Right of publicity, right of privacy, and defamation
  • Appellate litigation

News

Publications

  • Spring, 2021
    The Katten Kattwalk
    Contributor
  • April 2011
    Co-author, California Appeals Court Dismisses "Libel in Fiction" Suit Over CSI Episode, MLRC Media Law Letter
  • March 2011
    Co-author, Entitlement to Attorney Fees Under the Copyright Act After Plaintiff's Voluntary Dismissal, Communications Lawyer

Presentations and Events

Practices
Industries
Education
  • University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law, JD
  • Stanford University, MA
  • Stanford University, BS
Bar Admissions
  • California
Court Admissions
  • US Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
  • US Court of Appeals, Second Circuit
  • US District Court, Central District of California
  • US District Court, Northern District of California
Recognitions
Recognized or listed in the following:
  • Benchmark Litigation
    Under 40 Hotlist, 2018–2019
  • Law360
    Rising Star, 2018
  • The Legal 500 United States
    Recommended Attorney, 2020
Award Methodologies