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February 27th, 2023
GRWM: Everything You Need to Know About the Growing World of Online Influencers and the Opportunities it Presents for Lawyers
Advertising and Interactive Entertainment Counsel Dorian Slater Thomas is interviewed by Chambers Associate in the article, “GRWM: Everything you need to know about the growing world of online influencers and the opportunities it presents for lawyers.” The article speaks with prominent legal leaders on the growing market of social media influencers and the opportunities it presents for lawyers. Dorian is quoted saying, “There are so many entertainment spaces, and advertising has crept into all of those.”
Dorian adds that there are no set metrics as to how big an influencer’s following needs to be to warrant legal representation. He says, “I’ve represented emerging influencers who may have less than 10,000 followers on a platform, and negotiated brand deals with the biggest influencers whose last names start with K.” It’s more about the level of influence these personalities have over consumers, than the numbers themselves. Dorian notes that representing an influencer is almost a piece of a traditional talents job due to the high revenue from marketing dollars.
He also notes that influencer representation sits at the convergence of many areas of law. Dorian says, “I’ve seen deals where Twitch has engaged well-known streamers and essentially asked for a full-time job – 160 hours a month of streaming, so eight hours a day, five days a week. If that’s the case, it’s useful to have an attorney who is experienced in reviewing and negotiating those deals on things like industry standards, hours and compensation, how often you have to break for advertising, or how many ads you have to serve per hour.”
He adds that his entrance into the industry made sense coming from his experience in both advertising and interactive entertainment law. He says, “I work in two groups at Frankfurt Kurnit: the advertising group, which works on all the deals necessary to create a commercial (whether broadcast, social media, or experiential), and the interactive entertainment space, which was traditionally video game development and that genre of entertainment. I was sitting at the right nexus where I had experience in these interactive forms of entertainment and experience in advertising. Influencers straddle those two spaces within the law.”
Dorian recommends keeping up with the industry trades. He says, “Try to end up in the same physical spaces, too. Go to TwitchCon, Comic Con, VidCon. Go build that network of people in your life and they’ll turn to you.”
He adds that living in states where influencers live is helpful. “You’re not going to be stuck in LA or New York for your entire life, but if this is something you want to do then be prepared to spend at least a couple years of your life on either of the coasts.”
In conclusion Dorian says, “If you look back, it was unusual to make a bunch of money off social media, but now you’d be surprised if you tap into your network and realize how many people are making some kind of money, if not their entire income, off of social media, gaming, or some kind of interactive entertainment. As the industry expands, we will see further sophistication in how influencers are represented. He says, “We’re already seeing influencers evolve the same way that traditional talent and TV and movies have evolved, to the extent that we’re now seeing agencies like talent representation for influencers only.”
Read the full article here.
Other Quoted
Televerse Day 2 Highlights: Shrinking, Henry Winkler and More
The Television Academy in its Televerse News quoted Daniel M. Goldberg, who spoke about AI at the academy’s three-day festival. Televerse featured television industry professionals both in front of and behind the camera, expert panelists, FYC (For Your Consideration) discussions, and screenings of shows nominated for this year’s Emmy Awards. Mr. Goldberg spoke on a panel covering “how federal and state lawmakers, courts, content creators and other stakeholders are responding to the evolving technology's impact on copyright, licensing and rights protection.” When asked for future predictions for six months from now, Mr. Goldberg responded, "'It's so hard to predict even two weeks from now. But I think you're going to see the states continue to pick up [on regulating AI] where the federal government is not.’” View Article
August 18 2025
Attorney Cautions That Privacy Laws Cover All Platforms, Not Just Sites
Privacy Daily quotes Daniel M. Goldberg in an article on growing trends in privacy laws and enforcement. The publication covered a webinar presented by Mr. Goldberg and Privado CEO Vaibhav Antil. Mr. Goldberg stated, '“although several enforcement actions have targeted websites, mobile apps are also subject to all privacy laws'” He noted how it’s no longer enough for companies to rely on privacy vendors for compliance but must practice due diligence. Mr. Goldberg reviewed California enforcement actions against Honda, Todd Snyder, and Healthline.
“With all three of these examples, ‘these are not companies that did nothing,” he said. ‘These are companies that had measures in place, that had actually used a vendor to implement them, but the way that it was configured was not tracking the law perfectly.’” He also pointed out how enforcements and fines are rising. View Article. (Registration required.)
July 31 2025
Data Privacy Roundup
The AdExchanger newsletter quotes Daniel M. Goldberg, highlighting key privacy enforcement trends. He provided an example of how opting in cookie tracking by clicking a bold “Allow All” button contrasted with declining tracing, which required a more involved two-step process. Mr. Goldberg pointed out that regulators saw this process as a “potential dark pattern.” “‘Symmetry of choice is the idea that it should be just as easy to accept as it is to reject,’” Goldberg said. ‘It’s an area regulators are looking very, very closely at.’” He also noted dark pattern fines, especially with the CPPA could become substantially larger. He underscored due diligence in programs, referencing recent privacy enforcement setttlements and fines. “‘All these cases involve vendor solutions that did not work,’ Goldberg said. ‘In almost all of them, the company did have privacy compliance in place; it just wasn’t working.’” View Article
July 25 2025
