Richard “Rip” Beyman is a partner in the New York office of Lewis Brisbois and a Vice-Chair of the Entertainment, Media & Sports Practice.

Rip has comprehensive entertainment industry experience in transactions of all types and across all media and platforms. He counsels producer clients in strategic planning and negotiation from rights acquisition through development to financing, production, and distribution. He represents and negotiates agreements on behalf of creative talent, artists, and executives. Prior to returning to private practice, Rip served as a Senior Counsel at Columbia Pictures.

Over his career, Rip has taken great satisfaction in guiding clients in addressing the challenges of protection and monetization of content and personal brands as new and disruptive technologies continually emerge. This has included catalogue licensing for new music applications, endorsement, and revenue sharing for multi-platform creators and most recently, new revenue streams and licensing paradigms being created by blockchain technology.

When he is not working, Rip enjoys his family and navigating terrain on skis or a mountain bike.

Publications

Pro Bono & Philanthropy

Admissions

• State Bar Admissions
  • Connecticut
  • New York

Associations

• Member, Entertainment and Sports Law Section, New York State Bar Association.
• Previous Member, Entertainment Law Committee, New York City Bar Association.
• Previous Member,  Law Firm Advisory Board, Association of Media and Entertainment Counsel.

Awards & Honors

• Listed in Best Lawyers in America® 2024, Entertainment Law - Motion Pictures and Television
• New York Metro Super Lawyers, Entertainment & Sports.

Education

Fordham University

Juris Doctor, 1985

Cornell University

A.B., with Distinction, 1982

Representative Matters

• Production counsel including:
  • live event and unscripted reality programming;
  • music performance specials and series;
  • feature films, scripted television and documentaries.
• Branded entertainment projects for media agencies.
• Alternative content distribution including live online streaming and satellite theatrical exhibition.
• Content creators managing multiple revenue streams across social media, self-published video content and traditional exploitation outlets.
• Artists and collaborator negotiations for emerging technology including Non-fungible tokens.
• Audiovisual development, production and distribution of content on behalf of writers, producers and performers.
• Podcast production and distribution agreements for scripted and unscripted series as well as rights disposition for derivative works adaptation.
• Corporate entertainment sale, acquisition, joint venture, and merger transactions.
• New media/ digital exploitation and internet applications including catalog licensing and legal analysis.
• Sponsor, talent and influencer endorsements and promotional projects.
• Author representation for book publishing, television and film writing.
• Music label and artist representation for production, distribution and artist signings.
• Live Theatre.
• E-commerce negotiation on behalf of artist endorsers and platform revenue sharing transactions.
• On air talent and producers for network, cable and other news outlets.