Eric German ’92

Eric German is a partner at Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp where he specializes in entertainment litigation and intellectual property and technology law. He is responsible for the day-to-day representation and counseling of various artists, record labels, music publishing companies, video game publishers, and fashion and apparel brands.

German has played an integral role in a number of intellectual property law cases; successfully obtained summary judgment on behalf of the motion picture industry in its suit against the manufacturer of DVD-copying software for violations of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and successfully representing the recording industry in its copyright infringement lawsuits against KaZaA, Grokster, and Napster P2P file-sharing services. As a result of his work, in 2005, 2010, and 2012, he was named among the top 5% of Southern California lawyers by Southern California Super Lawyers.

For the past four years, German as served as an adjunct professor for Syracuse University's Los Angeles Semester program where he teaches Law for Music and Entertainment and Reconciling Arts and Commerce. Active with SU on the West Coast, he serves as a board member with the Syracuse University Alumni Club in Southern California, and as co-chair for the Southern California Chapter of A2IM.

German graduated from Syracuse University in 1992 with a bachelor’s degree in television/radio/film. He continued his education at Boston University School of Law where he worked as note editor for the Boston University Law Review, and graduated magna cum laude.

He took the time to answer the following questions:

What do you remember most about SU?

The friends and the good times.

Who was your favorite professors while at SU?

Michael Schoonmaker; Robert Thompson.

Why did you move to California?

Took work with artists and the entertainment business and to join my law firm.