Abstract
An interview with Emily Hays. She is Senior Counsel, Intellectual Property (IP) at The Walt Disney Company, where she advises creative, business, and legal teams on issues related to copyright, trademark, defamation, right of publicity, and more to help bring the magic of Disney to life. In her role, she works at the intersection of law and storytelling: addressing copyright and trademark clearance, acquisition, protection, and management issues, analyzing complex rights matters, and reviewing and drafting IP-related language for agreements throughout development, production, and distribution. Before joining Disney, Hays served as Counsel, Content Legal at Paramount and was a litigation associate at Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP. She also served as a judicial extern for the Honorable Philip S. Gutierrez of the United States District Court, Central District of California. These experiences collectively shaped her understanding of legal practice within the entertainment industry. Her work requires balancing risk management with artistic collaboration, protecting intellectual property while enabling storytellers to execute their creative visions. Through her transition from private practice to in-house entertainment counsel, she has developed a perspective on career growth, burnout prevention, and the evolving responsibilities of lawyers working inside media companies.
Recommended Citation
Emily Hays,
Career Spotlight: Emily Hays, Esq.,
5 Fla. Ent. & Sports L. Rev.
103
(2026).
Available at: https://scholarship.law.ufl.edu/feslr/vol5/iss2/1