Contact Nick
Direct: 202.480.2999Main: 202.480.2999Nick@OandZLaw.comEducation
- J.D. magna cum laude, Duke University School of Law
- B.A. summa cum laude, Vanderbilt University
Bar Admissions
- District of Columbia
- Virginia
Nick Hailey
Partner
Nick Hailey is a partner at Oppenheim + Zebrak, LLP, where he represents clients in complex intellectual property litigation involving copyrights, trademarks, and related commercial matters. Nick has argued and tried cases in federal and state courts nationwide. He has successfully represented clients across all stages of litigation, from pre-suit investigation and case development through trial and appeal.
Nick plays a central role in representing the firm’s clients in high-stakes, cutting-edge cases involving copyright infringement by artificial intelligence companies. Among other cases, he is currently representing a group of leading music publishers in litigation against Anthropic for mass copyright infringement of over 20,000 musical compositions.
Prior to joining O+Z, Nick was an associate at Covington & Burling in Washington, DC, where he represented a range of clients in complex litigation matters, trying cases in federal and state courts.
Nick earned his J.D. from Duke University School of Law, where he served on the Duke Law Journal. Nick graduated Duke Law magna cum laude, was elected to the Order of the Coif and National Order of Scribes, and received the James S. Bidlake Memorial Award for legal analysis, research, and writing. Prior to law school, Nick earned his B.A. in History from Vanderbilt University, graduating summa cum laude.
Nick is a member of the District of Columbia and Virginia Bars.
AAP v. Frosh
We obtained a preliminary injunction and declaratory judgment for the U.S. publishing industry against the Maryland Attorney General, preventing enforcement of a state-level compulsory license for copyrighted works. The court agreed with our argument that a state statute mandating that publishers license their literary works in digital format to public libraries, and under terms mandated by the state, is invalid, unconstitutional, and federally preempted. The ruling serves as a critical reminder that the nation’s copyright laws are a single federal system, within the exclusive domain of Congress rather than states. (District of Maryland)
Concord v. Anthropic
We are representing Universal Music Publishing Group, Concord Music Group, and ABKCO Music in copyright infringement litigation against Anthropic, an artificial intelligence company, for its unauthorized use and copying of over 20,000 musical compositions via its large language model Claude. (Northern District of California)
Pearson v. Chegg
We represented Pearson in a copyright infringement litigation against Chegg, a technology company that systematically prepared and sold answer sets to textbook questions. (District of New Jersey)
Warner Records v. Altice USA, Inc.
We are representing Warner Music Group, Warner Chappell, Sony Music Entertainment, and Sony Music Publishing in a copyright infringement litigation against Altice USA, Inc., an ISP, alleging Altice assisted and profited from its subscribers’ repeated uploading and downloading of copyrighted music through peer-to-peer networks such as Bit-Torrent. The case involves over 10,000 copyrighted works. (Eastern District of Texas)
