Member Since: 3/25/2006
Band Website: thefirm.com
Band Members:
JEFFREY E. JACOBSON was born in the Bronx and received his degree in Philosophy from Fordham University at the age of 19. He worked his way through college as Manager of the Criterion and Embassy Theatres on Broadway. While attending New York Law School, he won the ASCAP Nathan Burkan Memorial Competition with an article on Copyright and Fair Use which was published in the Fall 1980 issue of "Communications and the Law" and serialized in New York Law School and Pace University Law School publications. He graduated from New York Law School in 1980 at age 23. Jeffrey Jacobson is a member of the Bars of the State of New York and the District of Columbia and is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals, in addition to Federal trial courts, and the U.S. Court of International Trade. Previously, he served as attorney for SESAC, Inc., the music licensing and performing rights organization.Jeffrey is a prominent figure on the lecture circuit, having lectured at many institutions including the American Guild of Authors and Composers, the Songwriter's Guild, the Center for Media Arts, Fordham University, Pace University, the Detroit School of Law, the American Federation of Musicians, the Media Law Project Seminar of New York Law School, the Mid-America Music Conference, The College Music Journal annual conference, Philadelphia Music Conferences, Black Radio Exclusive Conference, and others. Some of his lectures are available on videotape and cassette, including a lecture entitled "Copyright in the Performing Arts," published on the audio cassette periodical "The Audio Lawyer," and distributed by the American Law Institute.Adding to the impressive list of his accomplishments, Jeffrey serves on the prestigious Entertainment Law Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and has served on their Trademark & Unfair Competition Committee and CLE faculty as well as their special N2K Task Force. He has also served numerous times as subcommittee chairman in the Intellectual Property Law section of the American Bar Association, composing reports on topics such as "Satellites," "Copyright Renewal," and "Copyright Law Compliance for Authors." He was also on the Advisory Committee of the New York Music Task Force, Inc., and has served as Vice-President of the Performing Arts Unit of B'nai Brith. For over twenty years, he has been a member of the Copyright Society of the USA, and has served on the editorial board of the society's journal for many years starting in 1989. Currently, Jeffrey is a Trustee, serves on the Executive Committee, as well as co-chairman of their web committee. He also founded the Urban Intellectual Property Seminars program conducted by the Young Lawyers Division of the American Bar Association. He serves on numerous entertainment law committees and is extremely active in the copyright bar. Jeffrey is also a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, The Audubon Society, as well as many other civic and entertainment organizations. Along with Mr. Colfin, Jeffrey is an Adjunct Associate Professor at Five Towns College in Dix Hills, NY where they presently teach Music Business Contracts. They have also taught Copyrights and Music Publishing.In his pre-attorney life, Jeffrey managed several bands, served as a consultant to record companies, was President of a music production company, Vice-President of an advertising group, and President of two music publishing firms. He is listed in "Who's Who in America," "Who's Who in the World," "Who's Who in American Law," "Who's Who in Entertainment," "Who's Who of Emerging Leaders in America," and "Who's Who in the East," as well as many other domestic and foreign biographical works.BRUCE E. COLFIN has been involved in the entertainment and music business for more than thirty years. His beginnings as a "roadie" for bands such as the New Riders of the Purple Sage and stage manager for Peter Tosh on the 1978 Rolling Stones summer tour evolved into stints as a sound engineer, video producer and director, stage manager, tour coordinator for Inner Circle, and personal manager for Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Mick Taylor, former Rolling Stones lead guitarist.Bruce is a graduate of Queens College of The City University of New York with a Bachelor's degree in Communications Arts and Sciences. His Juris Doctor is from New York Law School. A member of the Bar of the State of New York, he is also admitted to practice before the Federal Courts in the Southern and Eastern District Courts in New York as well as the U.S. Court of International Trade.Bruce also brings to THE FIRM extensive experience and background in the video production and distribution area. He produced a live weekly program on Manhattan Cable TV's channel "D" from 1976 to 1985. He was associate producer and copyright co-proprietor of "Blues Alive," featuring John Mayall, Mick Taylor, John McVie, Etta James, Sippie Wallace, Albert King, Buddy Guy and Junior Wells. The program was released by RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video, and Pioneer Disc, and re-released by Lightyear/Image Entertainment DVD as "Jamming with the Blues Greats."In his capacity as President of LegalVision, Inc., Bruce Colfin produced and directed a twelve-hour series of educational videotapes on entertainment law -- The Entertainment Law Videoprimer series. The project featured several internationally prominent entertainment business lawyers including Jay Cooper, Lee Phillips, Martin Silfen, Michael Rudell, and the Honorable N.Y. Supreme Court Justice Franklin Weissberg. The series was acquired by various universities, law schools and law libraries including the Lawrence Cohen Social Law Library at Harvard University and the State University College of New York at Oneonta, Department of Music.A knowledgeable author, Bruce has written extensively about video, including "Negotiating an Independent Music Video Production of the John Mayall's Blues Breakers Reunion," which involved the development of the "Blues Alive" video and was published in Entertainment Legal News. He has written about the production of music videos for Entertainment Law and Finance, and the production of interactive laser video programming for Tape/Disc Business, and internet and copyright infringement issues regarding technology for Replication News and its successor Medialine News .Bruce Colfin's list of academic credits is lengthy. Along with Mr. Jacobson, Bruce is an Adjunct Associate Professor at Five Towns College, an accredited music business college, in Dix Hills, N.Y. They presently teach Music Business Contracts and have taught Copyrights and Music Publishing as well. In 2003, Bruce was inducted into the Five Towns College Honor Society, Phi Sigma Eta. Between 1986 and 1988, Bruce was a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of the Copyright Society of the USA, where he reviewed Prof. Thomas McCarthy's treatise on the Rights of Publicity and Privacy. Bruce is the author of "Freedom of Expression: The Protection Afforded Dissident Authors' Rights," published in the European Intellectual Property Review of Oxford, England. He has also served as Chairman of the American Bar Association, Patent, Trademark and Copyright Subcommittee, where he supervised production of the report, "Legislation on Compulsory Licenses for Retransmissions of Superstation Signals for Private Viewing."He has been a member of the Entertainment Law Circle and the Copyright Society of the U.S.A.; member of the American Bar Association Forum Committee on Entertainment and Sports Law; member of the New York State Bar Association section on Entertainment Law; member of the Broadcasting, Sound Recordings and Performing Artists Subcommittee of the Copyright Division; member of the ABA Section of International Law and Practice, International Intellectual Property Rights Committee; and Chairman of its Intellectual Property Rights in Developing Countries Subcommittee.Bruce Colfin is a member of the New York Chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. He is a member of National Television Academy, New York Chapter, and New Media Committee. He is also currently a member of the American Bar Association Special Committee on Multimedia of the Intellectual Law Property Section. He is also a member of the N.Y.S. Bar Association Subcommittee on Publicity, Privacy and Merchandising and is Chairman of the Nassau County Bar Association Sports, Entertainment and Media Law Committee.As a past Chairman of an American Bar Association Section of International Law Subcommittee on Intellectual Property Rights in Developing Countries, he supervised the creation of an extensive bibliography of source materials about International Record Piracy. Bruce Colfin frequently speaks before various trade groups, music and art conferences, community groups, colleges and law schools, and Chambers of Commerce. Mr. Colfin is a frequent guest lecturer on entertainment business law for the Bachelors Degree program in music business at the State University College of New York at Oneonta. He is also a memeber of the Nassau County Bar Association Speakers Bureau. He is listed in "Who's Who in The World," "Who's Who in America," "Who's Who in Entertainment," "Who's Who in American Law," "Who's Who in the East," and other biographies. In 2003, Mr. Colfin was picked to judge the semi-final round of the Benjamin N. Cardozo Law School and Broadcast Music Inc., Entertainment Law Moot Court competition.With Jeffrey Jacobson, Bruce Colfin has co-authored numerous articles, including Photography and the Law, published by the New York Law Journal, and a monthly column for the Independent Music Producers Society Journal. Both attorneys also have participated in monthly lectures on the "Protection of Creative Rights" for the Discovery Center series of adult education courses. Both also co-wrote a column for the quarterly newsletter of the N.Y. Chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, and the Legal Horizons column for MediaLine, an industry monthly.BONNIE L. MOHR was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She graduated from East Stroudsburg University with a Bachelors of Science in Media Communication & Technology. College gave her the opportunity to mix and record music, to work on graphic design, publishing projects and animation, and produce television programs. She was also a member of the honors program.She graduated from New York Law School in 2003. While attending law school, she worked at various law firms, including an internship at Jacobson & Colfin, P.C., and taught martial arts.
Type of Label: Major