Lorin Brennan, Esq.
Lorin Brennan is a California attorney whose practice focuses on international intellectual property law. He is a principal of Gray Matter LLC, a company he co-founded in 1999 that develops software for international intellectual property rights licensing. In addition to his work with Gray Matter, Mr. Brennan maintains a private law practice serving select clients.
Mr. Brennan earned his B.A. in Mathematics from the University of California, Santa Cruz, in 1974. He received his J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in 1977, where he served as Editor-in-Chief of Comm/Ent: A Journal of Communications and Entertainment Law. He was admitted to the California Bar that same year.
His entertainment industry career includes serving as Director of Distribution Legal and Business Affairs for Lorimar Productions beginning in 1983 and later as Vice President of Business Affairs for Carolco Pictures from 1988 to 1995. During this period, he worked on the production, distribution, and financing of numerous successful film and television projects, including Dallas, Falcon Crest, Terminator II, Cliffhanger, Red Heat, and A River Runs Through It.
Mr. Brennan has also held leadership roles within the entertainment industry. In 1985, he was elected Vice Chair and Secretary of the American Film Marketing Association, now known as the Independent Film and Television Alliance (IFTA), serving five consecutive terms through 1996. From 1995 to 1999, he served as President of the Independent Producers Association, an IFTA-affiliated trade association representing independent motion picture producers in labor relations matters.
Throughout his career, Mr. Brennan has been actively involved in intellectual property policy development at both the national and international levels. He was a member of the U.S. Delegation to the 1989 WIPO Diplomatic Conference on the Treaty for the International Registration of Audiovisual Works and served as a guest lecturer for WIPO in China in 1992. He participated in the expert committee meetings and diplomatic conference that led to the WIPO Internet Treaties and worked on the development of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act implementing those treaties in the United States.
From 1996 through 2000, Mr. Brennan participated regularly in drafting committee meetings relating to the Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act (UCITA). In 2007, he joined an expert committee advising the Secretariat of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) on international intellectual property secured financing issues. He has since been a regular participant in UNCITRAL discussions concerning intellectual property provisions in secured financing frameworks.
Mr. Brennan has worked extensively with officials from the United States government, the European Commission, WIPO, and other international organizations on matters involving intellectual property licensing and financing. He is a frequent speaker at seminars and conferences addressing intellectual property law and policy.
A recognized author and commentator, Mr. Brennan is co-author of Commercial Intellectual Property Law: The Complete UCITA (2005). His numerous publications address intellectual property financing, software transactions, information licensing, secured transactions, and international copyright issues, including articles published in the Hastings Communications and Entertainment Law Journal, the Houston Business & Tax Journal, the Houston Law Review, the Duquesne Law Review, and the UCC Bulletin. His scholarship has contributed significantly to the development of legal frameworks governing intellectual property transactions in both domestic and international contexts.
