Chris Perez

Partner
Donaldson Callif Perez LLP

Partner at Donaldson Callif Perez LLP Chris Perez guides hundreds of content creators through complex rights clearance, copyright and fair use mandates across the entertainment industry. He serves as primary production counsel for high-profile multi-year media properties, headlined by steering Apple’s 2025 docuseries on the career of director Martin Scorsese. This expertise extends to cutting-edge First Amendment and artificial intelligence issues, including directing risk assessments for the 2025 SXSW documentary Deepfaking Sam Altman. Leveraging this record of success, Perez navigated the complex legal, defamation and parody clearances required for NEON to secure the February 2026 commercial release of Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie. He sustains this momentum by co-authoring text in the newly released fifth edition of Clearance & Copyright, cementing his position as the industry’s definitive author on media clearance law.