About Amy J. Everhart

Photo by Tara Vlahos

Experience

From 1998 to 2009, Ms. Everhart practiced with Nashville law firm Riley Warnock & Jacobson, PLC, where she focused her practice on commercial litigation, entertainment, copyright, trademark, internet, and other intellectual-property matters. She was named a member of the firm in 2008.

Ms. Everhart has represented recording artists, songwriters, major and independent record companies, music publishers, book publishers, healthcare companies, and other corporate and individual clients in various matters, including copyright and trademark infringement and ownership disputes, unfair competition, Consumer Protection Act, right of publicity, right to privacy, royalty disputes, and contract actions, among others. Ms. Everhart played a significant role in coordinating the joint defense of hundreds of rap-sampling copyright-infringement lawsuits brought simultaneously against major record companies and music publishers in the landmark Bridgeport Music, Inc. litigation in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee.

Ms. Everhart has a broad range of experience representing clients in trademark, copyright, entertainment, and internet matters, including the following:

• The prosecution and defense of trademark applications and opposition proceedings in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office;
• Registration of copyrights and the preparation and filing of copyright documents with the U.S. Copyright Office;
• Negotiation and preparation of various trademark, copyright, entertainment, and media contracts and licenses;
• Representation of clients in the publishing industries with respect to potential defamation, copyright, and trademark issues in literary works;
• Representation of minor performers and those that contract with them in matters unique to minors in the entertainment industry, including petitions for approval of minor entertainment contracts under the Tennessee Protection of Minor Performers Act, which Ms. Everhart co-authored;
• Negotiation and drafting of numerous legal documents in internet-related matters, including digital-download license agreements, domain-name purchase agreements, website terms of use, and website-design agreements; and
• Representation of clients with respect to domain-name disputes and cybersquatting issues, including claims in federal court under the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act and claims through ICANN’s Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy.

Community & Memberships

Ms. Everhart was the 2008-2009 chair of the Tennessee Bar Association Entertainment and Sports Law Section and is a current executive-council member of that Section and chair of the Section’s legislative committee. She is the current editor of the Tennessee Bar Association Intellectual Property Section Newsletter and an executive-council member of that Section. She is the author of “Ritchie v. Williams and the Complete Preemption Doctrine in Copyright: The New Federal/State Debate,” Tennessee Bar Journal, October 2006. She co-authored the Tennessee Protection of Minor Performers Act, Tenn. Code Ann. § 50-5-201, et seq., legislation that provides for court protection of performers under 18 years of age. Ms. Everhart is a member of the Tennessee Bar Association Leadership Law Class of 2008 and an alumna of the Harry Phillips American Inn of Court. She has spoken at seminars and had articles published on entertainment and intellectual-property law, leadership, and work/life balance, and has guest-lectured on entertainment and intellectual-property law at the University of Tennessee Law School and Belmont University.

Ms. Everhart was admitted to the Bar of Tennessee in 1998, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in 1999, and the U.S. Supreme Court in 2005. She is a member of the Nashville Bar Association, the Tennessee Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the Country Music Association, and the Lawyers’ Association for Women, Marion Griffin Chapter. She volunteers her services with Volunteer Lawyers and Professionals for the Arts.

Education

Ms. Everhart graduated in 1998 from Vanderbilt University School of Law, where she was published by and served on the editorial board for the Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law, was named to the Dean’s List, and received numerous awards for legal writing. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of North Dakota in 1994 with a B.A. degree in journalism, where she was named Phi Beta Kappa and Outstanding Graduate of the School of Communication.

Interested in Our Firm?

Amy J. Everhart, Attorney at Law, can guide you in protecting the execution of your bright idea, whether the result is a business or product name, a creative work, an Internet presence, or a career in the entertainment industry. Amy J. Everhart has more than a decade of experience as a lawyer in the areas of trademark, copyright, entertainment, and internet law. She founded her firm to offer the experience she gained during her years of mentorship in a larger firm environment with personal and customized attention to your unique legal needs.

>> Contact Amy J. Everhart, Attorney at Law