Marina Bogorad is an accomplished attorney with extensive legal experience and a proven track record of success in appellate matters, as well as a wide range of other litigation practices, including complex commercial litigation, entertainment litigation, and intellectual property matters.

With over twenty years of experience representing clients internationally and in state and federal courts throughout the United States, Marina is a skilled and tenacious litigator who consistently delivers favorable outcomes for her clients. She has been recently recognized as one of Billboard’s Top Music Lawyers of 2023.

Marina spent the first twelve years of her career at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, LLP. Her experience includes representing clients in state and federal appeals across the country, as well as high-stakes general commercial litigation, including breach of contract disputes, fraud claims, and business torts. She also has significant experience in copyright infringement suits and securities litigation cases, including class action defense.

Marina is highly regarded by her peers and clients alike for her professionalism, expertise, and dedication to her clients’ success. She is bilingual (English and Russian).

  • Represented a custom car design company and its owners for their major appellate victory in a high-profile copyright appellate litigation arising from the Gone in 60 Seconds movie franchise, Carroll Shelby Licensing, Inc. v. Halicki, 138 F.4th 1178 (9th Cir. 2025), recognized as one of the “Top Copyright Decisions of 2025” by Law360, and secured $1.3M attorneys’ fee recovery on remand.
  • Represented  two songwriters of the 2001 hit song “Playas Gon’ Play,” which Billboard named among its 100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time, against Ms. Taylor Swift and Co. in a copyright infringement action resulting in a major appellate victory that COSMOPOLITAN termed “a seriously unexpected move” in Hall v. Swift, 782 F. App’x 639 (9th Cir. Oct. 28, 2019), wherein the Ninth Circuit reversed a dismissal on the pleadings, as well as defeating summary judgment on remand in Hall v. Swift, 2021 WL 6104160 (C.D. Cal. Dec. 9, 2021)
  • Represented MGA Entertainment, Inc., as a member of the briefing team, in the highly publicized multibillion-dollar “battle of the dolls” trial against the Barbie-doll manufacturer, Mattel, Inc., over the rights to the “Bratz” doll franchise, including summary judgment briefing and various trial briefings throughout the 13-week trial
  • Represented KFC Corporation in Proposition 65 litigation, including prevailing on a dispositive motion at the pleadings stage for one of the actions, as well as briefing for summary judgment motion, supervising all aspects of electronic discovery and handling coordination and joint-strategy development with coalition of other fast-food chains (including McDonald’s, Wendy’s and others)
  • Represented Roman Abramovich, the former Governor of the Chukotka region in Russia and the former owner of the Chelsea FC soccer team, in a multibillion-dollar London-based litigation, Berezovsky vs. Abramovich, the largest private commercial dispute ever brought in an English court, wherein Ms. Bogorad acted as part of the team named Legal Business’ Litigation Team of the Year in February 2013
  • Leading role in representation of a major U.S. engineering firm in a construction dispute with the Lebanese government in arbitration proceedings before the International Chamber of Commerce and the parallel U.S. litigation challenging arbitral jurisdiction; assisting in appellate briefing before the Second Circuit
  • Key player on the briefing team defending several major U.S. and foreign financial institutions in the WorldCom litigation, one of the largest securities litigations in U.S. history: effectuating JPML centralization of multiple state court actions filed in more than several dozen states under sparsely used bankruptcy code provision; handling most of law and motion practice, including countless motions to dismiss and oppositions to motions to remand; assisting in appellate briefing before the Second Circuit
  • Several appellate victories in a wide variety of commercial disputes, including an extensively cited anti-SLAPP decision in Abuemeira v. Stephens, 246 Cal. App. 4th 1291 (2016), as well as wining appeals for a foreign investor in a failed movie production in Harra v. Fontana, No. B284018, 2018 WL 5095139 (Cal. Ct. App. 2d Dist. Oct. 19, 2018), and a legal recruiter in his breach of contract action against Manatt Phelps in Gregg Ziskind & Assocs., Inc. v. Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP, No. B287922, 2018 WL 4659718 (Cal. Ct. App. 2d Dist. Sept. 28, 2018)

  • Modern ‘Gone In 60 Seconds’ Cars Don’t Infringe, Judge Rules, Law360, April 27, 2026. Quoted in story as defendant’s attorney representing Classic Recreations and its owners.
  • Supreme Court Won’t Hear ‘Gone In 60 Seconds’ IP Appeal, Law360, Nov. 10, 2025. Quoted in story as defendant’s attorney representing Classic Recreations and its owners.
  • Can Drake Win His Appeal over Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us’? Experts Explain How He Might, Billboard, Nov. 6, 2025. Quoted in story as veteran entertainment litigator.
  • Discussion About Ninth Circuit’s Ruling in Gopher Media, Stopping Interlocutory Review of Anti-SLAPP Denials in Federal Court, Media Law Resource Center, Oct. 21, 2025. Discussion about the Ninth Circuit’s en banc decision in Gopher Media v. Melone.
  • Copyright Law in the USA: Ownership, Fair Use & Enforcement Challenges, IIPLA 2025 USA, Sept. 29, 2025. Featured speaker on the panel.
  • ‘Gone in 60 Seconds’ IP Appeal ‘Stalls At Starting Line’, Law360, May. 2025. Quoted in story representing Classic Recreations
  • Character Copyrights, UC San Diego Law School, Mar. 11, 2025. Guest Lecturer.
  • Closing Argument: AI Text and Data Mining: EU vs. US, Los Angeles Lawyers Magazine, Dec. 2024. Author of article.
  • Taylor Swift v. Scooter Braun: Bad Blood, Part 2 (“Scooter’s Version”) (Warner Bros. 2024, available on various streaming platforms)
  • Taking on Taylor Swift (CNN Flash Docs 2023, available on various streaming platforms)
  • Taylor Swift Files to Dismiss ‘Shake it Off’ Lawsuit After ‘Unprecedented’ Ruling, Billboard, Dec. 28, 2021. Quoted in story as plaintiff’s attorney representing songwriters Sean Hall and Nathan Butler
  • Taylor Swift to face plagiarism trial over Shake It Off lyrics, The Guardian, Dec. 10, 2021. Quoted in story as plaintiff’s attorney representing songwriters Sean Hall and Nathan Butler
  • Taylor Swift Copyright Lawsuit May Go to Trial Judge Rules, The New York Times, Dec. 10, 2021. Quoted in story as plaintiff’s attorney representing songwriters Sean Hall and Nathan Butler
  • ‘Players’ and ‘haters’ (Taylor’s Version) headed for copyright trial, Reuters, Dec. 10, 2021. Quoted in story as plaintiff’s attorney representing songwriters Sean Hall and Nathan Butler
  • Taylor Swift Must Face Trial in ‘Shake it Off’ Copyright Lawsuit, Billboard, Dec. 9, 2021. Quoted in story as plaintiff’s attorney representing songwriters Sean Hall and Nathan Butler
  • Taylor Swift’s Accusers Say She Must Face ‘Shake It Off” Trial, Even If She’s ‘Unhappy’, Billboard, Jan. 14, 2022. Quoted in story as plaintiff’s attorney representing songwriters Sean Hall and Nathan Butler
  • Taylor Swift’s ‘Shake It Off’: Appeals Court Revives Copyright Lawsuit, Rolling Stone, Oct. 28, 2019. Quoted in story as plaintiff’s attorney representing songwriters Sean Hall and Nathan Butler

Press Releases

Munck Wilson Mandala’s Tony Handal and Marina Bogorad Secure $1.37 Million Attorneys’ Fee Award Following Landmark Victory in “Eleanor” Litigation

The litigation, which spanned decades of aggressively asserted claims against exotic car manufacturers represented by MWM, centered on whether “Eleanor” could be afforded the same level of character copyright protection as iconic vehicles such as the Batmobile. As detailed in MWM’s prior coverage of the case, the court ultimately rejected those claims, delivering a decisive

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Client Alerts

Recapture of Copyrights: the Fifth Circuit Accepts the No-Borders Worldview in Vetter v. Resnik

By Marina Bogorad What is copyright termination? A regular copyright interest has an expiration date, which could be renewed under the 1909 Copyright Act to give authors an opportunity to renegotiate their licensing contracts. Under the 1976 Copyright Act, which governs works created in 1978 or later, the renewal right became a termination right, which

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Press Releases

Munck Wilson Mandala Secures Victories in the Ninth Circuit

Munck Wilson Mandala’s appellate team, led by partners Anton Handal and Marina Bogorad, secured two significant victories before the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. In Gopher Media v. American Pizza, the MWM team obtained a stay of the mandate pending disposition of a forthcoming petition for writ of certiorari to the

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In the News

Los Angeles Partner Marina Bogorad Quoted in Billboard Article on Drake vs. Kendrick Lamar

The article, titled “Can Drake Win His Appeal Over Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us’? Experts Explain How He Might,” examines the rapper’s legal strategy as he seeks to revive the case after a judge dismissed it last month. Marina, quoted by Billboard as a “veteran entertainment litigator,” told Billboard the ruling raises significant questions about

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In the News

MWM Appellate Pro Chase Cobern Argues Before En Banc Ninth Circuit to Defend State Anti-SLAPP Rights

The California anti‑SLAPP law at issue authorizes defendants to seek prompt dismissal and reimbursement of legal expenses for lawsuits targeting their free speech and petitioning rights. Defending Ninth Circuit precedent, Chase argued that California’s anti-SLAPP law confers substantive state rights that federal courts must continue to enforce at both the trial and appellate levels. The

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Client Alerts

Character Copyrightability: One Car’s Quest to Become the Batmobile

By Marina V. Bogorad Last month, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit heard oral arguments in Carrol Shelby Licensing, Inc. v. Halicki, Case No. 23-3731.  It is an appeal after a trial victory for defendants, secured by, inter alia, MWM partner Anton (Tony) N. Handal, and defended on appeal by MWM

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Client Alerts

The TikTok Ban: Why and What Now?

By Marina Bogorad Brace yourselves, the TikTok ban is coming. On the eve of the ban coming into effect on January 19, 2025, the Supreme Court has now upheld it.[1] Let us take a look at how it all started, why the ban is becoming a reality, and whether anybody should even care. In case our readers

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University of California Los Angeles School of Law, JD

American Jurisprudence Award for Civil Procedure
American Jurisprudence Award for Real Property

University of California Los Angeles, BA

Political Science and Russian Studies

magna cum laude

UCLA Dean’s Honors List

  • State Bar of California
  • Los Angeles Bar Association Appellate Courts Section
  • American Bar Association
  • Los Angeles Lawyer Editorial Board Member, 2024-2025
  • California Lawyers Association, Committee on Appellate Courts, 2025-2026

 

  • Women of Influence: Attorneys
    Los Angeles Business Journal, 2025
  • Leaders of Influence: Litigators & Trial Attorneys, Los Angeles Business Journal, 2024
  • Billboard Top Music Lawyer 2023

California, 2001

U.S. Supreme Court

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

U.S. District Court for the Central District of California

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California