Mr. Johnson’s practice focuses on civil litigation, entertainment and intellectual property law, and corporate transactions. He has extensive experience in a wide variety of civil litigation matters at both the trial and appellate level in state and federal courts across the country. In addition, Mr. Johnson regularly handles copyright and trademark applications, intellectual property licensing, entertainment transactions, and corporate transactions. Mr. Johnson counts among his corporate client’s local businesses, record companies, and tech start-ups.
For each of the past seven years, Mr. Johnson has been recognized as a Mid-South Super Lawyers Rising Star. In 2011, Mr. Johnson received the International Trademark Association’s prestigious Ladas Memorial Award for his article The Waning Consumer Protection Rationale of Trademark Law: Over-Protective Courts and the Path to Stifling Post-Sale Consumer Use, 101 TMR 1321 (2011).
Prior to law school, Mr. Johnson worked in various capacities in the entertainment industry, including at Creative Artists Agency and as a road manager for various acts.
Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Johnson worked as an attorney at Loeb & Loeb LLP in its entertainment group.
Representative Cases:
Funk v. Scripps Media, Inc., 570 S.W.3d 205 (Tenn. 2019) (landmark case on scope of the fair report privilege in Tennessee defamation cases)
Elsten v. Coker, No. M2019-00034-COA-R3-CV, 2019 Tenn. App. LEXIS 493 (Oct. 4, 2019) (summary judgment affirmed in public-figure defamation case), perm. appeal denied (Tenn. 2020).
David Pell v. Kellie Pickler Touring, Inc. et al., No. 15C2646 (Davidson County Circuit Court) (motion to dismiss granted in defamation case)
Roger Miller Music, Inc. v. Sony/ATV Publ’g, LLC, 672 F.3d 434 (6th Cir. 2012) (copyright recapture case)
One Media IP Ltd. v. S.A.A.R. SrL, 122 F. Supp. 3d 705 (M.D. Tenn. 2015) (motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction granted in copyright infringement case)
Brantley Gilbert v. Average Joes Entertainment Group, LLC et al., No. 11-202-III (Davidson County Chancery Court) (breach of recording contract)
RN Entm’t, LLC v. Clement, 380 F. Supp. 3d 711 (M.D. Tenn. 2019) (motion to dismiss granted, in part, in non-compete/trade secrets case)
Brown v. J. Rockett Audio Designs, LLC, No. 1:17-cv-00093, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 68739 (M.D. Tenn. Apr. 23, 2019) (motion for summary judgmnt granted in Lahnam Act case)
Servpro Intellectual Prop. v. Zerorez Franchising Sys., No. 3:17-cv-00699-JPM, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 114504 (M.D. Tenn. July 9, 2018) (motion to dismiss granted in Lanham Act case)
Tenn. Clutch & Supply, Inc. v. Auto-Owners (Mut.) Ins. Co., 556 S.W.3d 203 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2017) (motion for summary judgment granted in favor of client in case regarding interpretation of an insurance policy)
Auto-Owners Ins. Co. v. Holland, No. M2014-01630-COA-R3-CV, 2016 Tenn. App. LEXIS 114 (Feb. 12, 2016) (motion for summary judgment granted in favor of client in case regarding interpretation of an insurance policy)
