John V. Berlinski

Practice Areas

Entertainment, Complex Business Litigation, Intellectual Property

Career

John Berlinski is regarded as one of Hollywood’s most respected lawyers, with a practice focused on representing top actors, producers, directors, talent agencies, guilds, independent studios, casinos, resorts, and recording artists in their most significant disputes.

John has been at the forefront of some of the most hot-button legal issues facing the entertainment industry today, representing clients in high-stakes and high-profile licensing, distribution, intellectual property, residuals, and “backend” profit participation disputes. In a case that drew national attention, John represented actor-producer Scarlett Johansson in her groundbreaking lawsuit alleging that The Walt Disney Company had improperly failed to release her film Black Widow as promised, opting instead for a “day-and-date” release on streaming service Disney+ that deprived Ms. Johansson of tens of millions of dollars in box office bonuses. John is also well known for his role in obtaining the largest award in the history of profit participation arbitration, on behalf of David Boreanaz, Emily Deschanel, and Kathy Reichs, the actors and author-producer behind the hit Fox television series Bones. He currently represents actor Brad Pitt and his company in highly publicized multi-jurisdictional lawsuits against Angelina Jolie and others concerning the parties’ interests in Château Miraval—the highly regarded French winery.

Prior to joining Bird Marella, John was the Chair of his prior law firm’s entertainment practice. Before that, he spent seven years at NBCUniversal, where he was the Senior Vice President & Head of West Coast Television Litigation. John has received numerous awards and accolades, including being recognized by Variety as a top entertainment litigator in its Legal Impact Report 2022: Top Attorneys Winning Cases and Making Deals in Hollywood; as one of Hollywood’s top attorneys by The Hollywood Reporter on its “Power Lawyers 2022: Hollywood Top 100 Attorneys” list; as an Entertainment Trailblazer by The American Lawyer; and by The National Law Journal for his groundbreaking work.

Publications

Quoted, “A Red-Letter Day For Black Widow,” Law Quadrangle, November 2022

Quoted, "‘Narcos’ Profits Suit Settles Ahead of Trial," The Hollywood Reporter, October 2022

Quoted, "Netflix Seeks to Renegotiate Deals to Show Ads Next to Popular Shows," The Wall Street Journal, July 2022

Featured, "Scarlett Johansson Lawyer John Berlinski Moves To Bird Marella As Partner," Deadline, May 2022

Quoted, "Disney wants Scarlett Johansson case arbitrated; her team wants an open court," Los Angeles Times, August 2021

Quoted, "Scarlett Johansson Sues Disney Over ‘Black Widow’ Streaming Release," The Wall Street Journal, July 2021

Author, “Is the curtain closing on TV profit participation litigation?,” Daily Journal, August 2020

Quoted, "Arbitrator Says Fox Dug A $179M Grave In 'Bones' Profit Row," Law360, February 2019