Joe Bogdan
Partner
Intellectual Property, Entertainment, Sports and Media, Corporate and Business Transactions, Artificial Intelligence
Chicago
(312) 445-7708
Joe Bogdan works at the intersection of intellectual property, entertainment and technology industries, providing a broad array of advice in a variety of subject matter disciplines. Joe’s career has involved legal work in all areas of entertainment and arts, intellectual property, and technology industries. He is a serial General Counsel to technology, entertainment and technology/entertainment companies, and he has long been a defender of authors’ rights to their intellectual property (for example, having protected the intellectual property rights of musicians who have sold over one billion records and earned more than ten Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductions). The value he provides to clients also includes his significant business-side experience, with a combined 15 years as a business affairs executive and a chief operating officer of the companies for which he was concurrently General Counsel.
While Joe’s legal career began in IP licensing, and the cornerstone of his practice has long been licensing, entertainment, and technology-industry transactions, over time he also developed proficiency in corporate, mergers and acquisitions, commercial transactions, compliance, international law, privacy, and commercial real estate. It is in all those areas that he advises clients today.
Joe is admitted to practice in Illinois (active) and California (inactive). He obtained his J.D. from USC Gould School of Law and an M.A. in Communications Technologies from the USC Annenberg School of Communications and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature with a Government Law minor from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He also teaches a variety live entertainment, music business, and intellectual property courses at Columbia College Chicago and for the IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law’s School of American Law.
Selected Experience
- In his most recent General Counsel role, first led and helped integrate, seven acquisitions in three years (acquisitions up to mid-eight figures), then played a key role in the team through which a major private equity firm acquired the company’s majority interest in a nine-figure transaction.
- Negotiated dozens of key intellectual property licenses for the exploitation by his clients of some of the best-known Hollywood brands.
- Represented Fortune 500 technology company that had earmarked $3 billion for a three-year acquisition strategy, himself running fourteen acquisitions on five continents (acquisitions up to mid-nine figures, with aggregate value of >$1 billion).
- Represented Fortune 500 consulting firm in building out its then-fledgling corporate-events business/
- Negotiated worldwide television and pay-per-view rights (3 domestic broadcast networks, 12+ pay-per-views and 7,500 hours of programming annually, broadcast in 30 languages and 145 countries).
- Positioned venture-backed client as a player in the online music space by negotiating key, industry watershed agreements with multiple major record labels.
- Provided strategic advice and contract terms to a well-known entertainment company regarding the adequacy of earthly laws for the use of intellectual property in space.
- Became one of the earliest internet-savvy lawyers, with significant, ground-breaking experience (e.g., representing a major record label in 1993, doing the legal work for the first music video downloadable over the internet).
Publications
- Co-Author, “Music Law for the General Practitioner” (American Bar Association, publication expected January, 2026)
- Author, “Morals clauses: the corporate ejection seat” (International Bar Association, May 8, 2018)
- Author, “Business Sense Arrow Straight: An Examination of Brand Community and Philanthropy Bordering on Social Entrepreneurship as Primary Reasons for the Success of Vans Warped Tour” (MEIEA Journal, Vol. 17, No. 1, 2017)
- Co-Author, “The Second City on tier pricing or how to ask simple questions.” (ThinkingAboutPricing.com. March 28, 2016)
- Author, “Ten Reasons Authors Aren’t Retaking Their Copyrights” (Billboard Magazine, December 11, 2015)
- Author, “The Little Law that Could (and Probably Will): Section 203 Copyright Recapture Terminations in America” (American Journal of Arts Management, November 2015)
- Co-Author, “The Second City is first in creative Entrepreneurship” (International Journal of Arts Management, Vol. 17, No. 3 (Spring 2015))
Speaking Engagements
- “Safeguarding Reputation and Maintaining Trust”, March 4, 2025, Consero General Counsel Forum, Irving, Texas.
- “Careers in Entertainment Law”, March 28, 2024, University of Dayton School of Law Sports and Entertainment Law Society, Dayton, Ohio.
- “Navigating Leadership Excellence: Strategies, Challenges, and Trust-Building”, October 19, 2023, TechGC, Chicago, Illinois.
- “Ethics of Artificial Intelligence”, (May 31, 2023), Oyster HR Legal Innovation Initiative, Charlotte, North Carolina.
- “Legal Team Playbooks – Concepts & Language to Include”, (May 19, 2023), Fullstack GC Conference, San Francisco, California.
- “Ethics of Artificial Intelligence”, (April 20, 2023), General Counsel Conference Midwest, Chicago, Illinois.
- “Copyright for the Music Industry”, (March 10, 2023), Deep Dish Music Festival, Chicago, Illinois.
- “Psychology and the Law”, (October 21, 2022), Northern Virginia Community College, Annandale, Virginia.
- “The Entertainment and Sports Law Society – Speaker Series 2022”, (February 2, 2022), UC Davis School of Law, Davis, California.
- “Intellectual Property for Fun and Profit”, (April 12, 2021), Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.
- “Copyright is King”, (April 9, 2021), Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.
- “Guardians of the Galaxy: Building a Team”, (April 12, 2018), Launch Music Conference, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
- “How to Get Loans and Investments, or Sell Your Business”, (March 15, 2018) Addison Chamber of Commerce, Addison, Illinois; (October 4, 2017) Willowbrook/Burr Ridge Chamber of Commerce, Countryside, Illinois; (July 12, 2017) City of Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection Business Education Workshops, Chicago, Illinois; (June 22, 2017) LaGrange Park Chamber of Commerce, LaGrange Park, Illinois.
- “Digital Music Sampling: Back in ‘Vogue’ After the 9th Circuit Madonna Ruling?”, (June 9, 2017) University of Dayton School of Law 27th Annual Program in Law and Technology (PILT) Seminar, University of Dayton School of Law, Dayton, Ohio.
- “Stupid Polack: A Discussion of Hate Speech and Safe Zones”. (May 17, 2017) Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.
- “Arrow Straight: Success of Vans Warped Tour”. (March 17, 2017) South by Southwest Music Festival, Austin, Texas.
- “Lights, Camera, Legal Action”. (April 9, 2016) Chicago Filmmakers, Chicago, Illinois.
- “Section 203 Copyright Recapture Terminations”. (March 16, 2016) South by Southwest Music Festival, Austin, Texas.
- “Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for the Visual Arts”. (November 9, 2015) Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.
- “Chaos & Copyrights: Clearing Up the ‘Blurred Lines’ of Infringement in Williams v. Bridgeport”, (November 3, 2015) University of Dayton School of Law 2015 Program in Law and Technology (PILT) Scholarly Symposia Series, University of Dayton School of Law, Dayton, Ohio.
- “The Human Side of Intellectual Asset Management”. (February 24, 2015) Illinois Institute of Technology Master’s Program in Intellectual Property Management & Markets, Chicago, Illinois.
- “Licensing Your Work”. (May 13, 2013) Chicago Music Commission, Chicago, Illinois.
- “Licensing Music for Commercials, Film and Television”. (March 12, 2012) Chicago Music Commission, Chicago, Illinois.
- “Make You or Break You: A frank discussion of crisis management.” (2008) Indiana University Kelley School of Business, Bloomington, Indiana.
- “Content in the Wireless Age”. (2006) Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham Seminar on Media, Telecom & Technology Convergence, Washington, D.C.
- “Compliance or Consequences: a discussion of practical methodologies to enforce end user compliance with the intended use(s) of your clients’ web sites”. (2005) Chicago Bar Association Computer Law Committee.
- “Copyright, Music and the Internet” as a part of Practicing Law Institute’s “Understanding Basic Copyright Law 2002”. (2002) Chicago, Illinois.
- “Webcast and Die!—Recent Developments Under the Music-Related Provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act”. (2002) Chicago Bar Association Computer Law Committee.
- “Commerce in Cyberspace”. (2001) 20th Annual University of Southern California Institute for Corporate Counsel, Los Angeles, California.
- “Ensuring That Your Shrinkwrap and Clickwrap Licenses Provide Maximum Protection”. (2001) Second Annual American Conference Institute Advanced Forum on Licensing & Distribution, San Francisco, California.
- “AOL/Time Warner—What Impact Will It Have…If It Even Happens”. (2000) Continuing Legal Education program hosted by the Entertainment and Media Unit of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, Los Angeles, California.
- “Choose a Model as Your Lifemate: a Discussion of Internet Business Models”. (2000) 18th Annual UCLA Entertainment Law Symposium, Los Angeles, California.
- “Distribution and the Internet”. (2000) Atlantis Music Conference, Atlanta, Georgia.
- “Electronic Licensing and Distribution: A Model for the New Millennium”. (2000) American Conference Institute Advanced Forum on Licensing and Distribution, New York, New York.
- “Lost in Cyberspace: The New Frontier of Internet Litigation”. (2000) Beverly Hills Bar Association, Beverly Hills, California.
- “Now What: So You’re Creating an Internet Startup”. (2000) South by Southwest Interactive Festival, Austin, Texas.
- “Digital Content Through New Media: Attractive, but Costly?”. (1999) Chicago Bar Association Forum on Entertainment Law and the Arts, Chicago, Illinois.
- “Gold Rush or Fool’s Gold: Dealmaking in a Digital Era”. (1999) Digital Distribution and the Music Industry Conference and Exhibition, Los Angeles, California.
- “Intellectual Property – The Next Big Thing”. (1999) Manatt, Phelps & Phillips Entertainment/New Technology Summit, Los Angeles, California.
- Midwest Entrepreneurs’ Forum Roundtable Panel on Business Plan Review. (1999) Chicago Union League Club, Chicago, Illinois.
- “Stock Options in Startup Hi-Tech Companies”. (1999) Gardner, Carton & Douglas Stock Based Compensation Forum, Chicago, Illinois.
- MIT Enterprise Forum Roundtable Panel on Business Plan Review. (1998) Chicago Union League Club, Chicago, Illinois.
- “Negotiating for Year 2000 Assurances From Your Vendors” as a part of “Managing the Risks: A Special Briefing for Corporate Executives”. (1998) Chicago, Illinois; Atlanta, Georgia; New York, New York; San Francisco, California.
- “Trade Secrets in the Internet Age”. (1997) The American Electronics Association, Los Angeles, California.
Memberships
- Music and Entertainment Industry Educators Association (MEIEA®)
- The Event Safety Alliance
- The Association of Media & Entertainment Counsel