David P Mattern

• Co-Lead Counsel to TikTok in nationwide litigation in which personal injuries and school districts plaintiffs allege harms arising from adolescent use of social media and entertainment platforms, including in the Social Media MDL pending in N.D. Cal. and JCCP pending in Los Angeles Superior Court. Runner-up for Litigator of the Week for obtaining dismissal of school district suits in the JCCP proceeding.
• Counsel to Activision Blizzard in connection with nationwide lawsuits alleging a variety of harms arising from the purported addiction to video games.
• Co-lead Counsel to the Radio Music License Committee in a series of rate-setting proceedings involving the performing rights’ organizations ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC
• Counsel to Google/YouTube in a rate-setting proceeding before the Copyright Royalty Board to determine the rates non-interactive streaming services pay record labels, including arguing on behalf of Google/YouTube in the D.C. Circuit in support of affirming the rate determination
• Represented a large technology company in litigation filed against Russian cybercriminals operating a botnet that employed blockchain technology.
• Downtown v. Peloton (2019). Represents Peloton Interactive, Inc. in suit brought by music publishers in SDNY
• Phonorecords III (2017). Represented Google before the Copyright Royalty Board in a proceeding to set the royalty rates paid to publishers for interactive streaming.
• Pandora v. BMI (2015). Member of trial team representing Pandora against Broadcast Music, Inc. in rate court proceeding under antitrust consent decree to determine public performance royalties for Pandora’s internet radio service.

David Mattern is an experienced trial and appellate lawyer who represents technology, media, and entertainment companies in complex litigation and intellectual property matters.  

David has substantial experience defending technology platforms and other companies in suits related to user content, including in copyright litigation, matters involving Section 230, the DMCA, and trademark and trade secret claims.  David has also litigated consumer class actions, securities cases, and constitutional matters.

Before rejoining King & Spalding, David was a law clerk to then-Chief Judge R. Guy Cole (Sixth Circuit). He received his J.D. from Columbia Law School, where he was a James Kent Scholar. 

David has represented clients at trial and appeal in courts across the country. David has particular expertise in copyright law and platform defenses, including representing platforms in copyright litigation and rate court disputes, and in defending platforms in suits related to user content and content moderation under the DMCA and Section 230. His experience extends to a wide range of subject areas, including False Claims Act litigation, product liability litigation, professional liability litigation, and many other types of business litigation.

David devotes a significant amount of time to pro bono civil rights litigation. Recent successful representations include obtaining reversal of a grant of qualified immunity to prison officials in a suit brought under Section 1983 in a case he argued in the Ninth Circuit, and in obtaining a reversal of a grant of summary judgment to prison officials on exhaustion under the PLRA in a case he argued in the Seventh Circuit.