Ross M. Bagley

Ross is an experienced commercial litigator with a reputation for efficiently and effectively litigating high-stakes commercial disputes. Since joining Pryor Cashman over 15 years ago, Ross has focused his practice on resolving complex claims for breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and fraud. He has also litigated numerous claims involving valuable copyrights and trademarks, celebrities’ right of publicity, and defamation.

In addition to trial work, Ross has handled numerous appeals and petitions to the U.S. Supreme Court, several U.S. Circuit Courts, and the New York appellate courts. He dedicates a significant portion of his time to serving individuals and business owners, though he has the ability to work at scale for clients of all shapes and sizes, including technology companies, professional services firms, entrepreneurs, and others.

Examples of Ross’s commercial experience include successful representations of:

• A wireless technology company, obtaining an eight-figure international arbitration award against an overseas respondent for breach of a patent license agreement concerning standard essential patents.
• A New York technology entrepreneur, obtaining dismissal of defamation, right of publicity, trademark, and other claims in the Northern District of California.
• A fintech company and registered broker-dealer, obtaining favorable settlement of claims asserting breach of a membership interest purchase agreement in a bet-the-company arbitration.
• A hospitality company in litigation regarding one of the hottest U.S. restaurants, Mother Wolf — successfully defeating a preliminary injunction motion in November 2023.
• A film distribution salesman, obtaining summary judgment against his former employer, Cargo Entertainment, for failure to pay full compensation.
• A prominent auction house, obtaining dismissal in January 2024 of claims seeking to enjoin the sale of a famous dress worn by Judy Garland in “The Wizard of Oz.”

In addition to his prowess serving entrepreneurs and businesses, Ross is sought for his experience in media and entertainment. Working with media conglomerates, Grammy-winning artists, and other industry movers, Ross was part of the Pryor Cashman team that obtained a $41 million jury verdict for EMI Music Publishing against music service provider MP3tunes, Inc. and its owner and CEO, Michael Robertson. This litigation resulted in one of the largest jury awards in history for digital copyright infringement. Ross and the team subsequently prevailed in defending the verdict on appeal, developing important protections for digital rights holders on a variety of copyright issues.

Ross’s other successful entertainment-focused representations include his work with:

• Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, Parkwood Entertainment, LLC, Sony Music Entertainment, Inc., Columbia Records, Shawn Carter, and Jerome Harmon, obtaining dismissal of a copyright infringement action brought by a filmmaker regarding Beyoncé’s short film, “Lemonade”; and obtaining dismissal of a right of publicity claim alleging that a Hungarian singer’s voice was misappropriated in Beyonce’s hit single “Drunk in Love.”
• Lions Gate Entertainment, Netflix, NBCUniversal, and the writers, producers, and director of the “Rosemary’s Baby” miniseries, obtaining the dismissal of a copyright infringement suit alleging that the miniseries adaptation of the classic horror novel of the same name copied elements of the plaintiff’s short stories. The court dismissed the case with prejudice.
• Lions Gate Entertainment and others, obtaining dismissal of claims alleging that the title of Golden Globe-nominated film “50/50” infringed the plaintiff’s trademark. The decision was affirmed on appeal by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.
• The Extreme Music Library Limited and Extreme Music Limited, obtaining summary judgment dismissing claims alleging millions in unpaid performance royalties.

Ross has also secured significant pro bono victories, including preventing the deportation of an immigrant from Ghana living in the U.S. for 16 years.

Ross was a summer associate at Pryor Cashman in 2007.