Karen Thorland,
Senior Vice President, Deputy General Counsel, Global Content Protection Legal,
MPAA
In her role as Senior Vice President & Deputy General Counsel at the Motion Picture Association of America, Karen Thorland manages domestic content protection civil litigation and oversees the Association’s global voluntary initiatives and civil litigation efforts. Thorland managed successful litigations against the peer-to-peer website isoHunt, the cyberlocker Hotfile, two rings of unauthorized streaming sites (MovieTube and Pubfilm), and seller of piracy devices (TickBox). She also is engaged in the development of the Association’s global policies and strategies related to content protection and she provides legal support for the content protection department, including for criminal referrals.
Thorland came to the MPAA from her partnership at Loeb & Loeb, LLP, which she joined in 2001. She has deep experience in a broad range of litigation and intellectual property matters, including copyright and trademark, rights of publicity and privacy, First Amendment, entertainment contractual disputes and appeals. While at Loeb & Loeb, Thorland was the co-lead counsel for the MPAA member companies in a national litigation campaign related to peer-to-peer file-sharing. Prior to joining Loeb & Loeb LLP, Thorland was an associate at Jones Day from 1994 to 2001, where she worked on large-scale commercial litigation and intellectual property matters.
She is a graduate of the University of California at Los Angeles School of Law and the University of California at Santa Barbara, where she graduated with Highest Honors, College Honors, and Distinction in Major. Thorland currently serves on the UCLA School of Law Alumni Association Board of Directors.
