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Caitlin Hadlee
Special Counsel
Expertise
Industries
Bio
Caitlin is a senior litigator specialising in entertainment and intellectual property disputes, together with defamation and technology disputes.
She has particular expertise in disputes relating to copyright and music, having appeared as counsel in New Zealand’s most high profile musical copyright infringement litigation (Eight Mile Style LLC v New Zealand National Party) and frequently representing Australasia’s largest music rights holders in copyright infringement actions.
Caitlin also specialises in brand protection and trade mark disputes, advising and appearing regularly as counsel in High Court, Court of Appeal, IPONZ and IP Australia hearings relating to trade mark infringement, revocations, oppositions and invalidity applications. She also appears frequently as counsel in litigation involving defamation, consumer protection laws, negligence, competition and shareholders’ disputes.
In addition to representing significant rights holders, publishers, social media platforms, telecommunications providers and broadcasters, Caitlin also acts for individual authors, artists, directors, producers and start-ups, across the music, art, news media, fashion, gaming, software and film industries. She also advises tech and entertainment industry clients who want to use the rights of content creators for their products or projects. She has particular expertise in defamation and Harmful Digital Communications Act disputes and regularly appears for clients in Courts ranging from the District Court to the Court of Appeal.
Caitlin prides herself on making litigation as smooth, efficient and stress free as possible for her clients and she is frequently praised for her careful yet commercially workable advice and clear communication style.
Caitlin is a member of Women in Film and Television (NZ) a New Zealand committee member for IPSANZ and has been recognised as a 2024 Rising Star and 2025 Leading Associate for Intellectual Property in the Legal 500.
Highlights
Memberships & Associations
- Member of Auckland Women Lawyers' Association (AWLA)
- Member of the New Zealand committee for IPSANZ
- Member of WIFT
Qualifications
BA, LLB (Hons)
Admitted
New Zealand 2003
Experience
Hudson Gavin Martin | 2020
Lee Salmon Long | 2004 - 2020
Bell Gully | 2002 - 2004
Building blocks of trade mark law: New Zealand approach to "use as a trade mark" now compatible with Australia
A recent Court of Appeal decision provides long awaited clarity for businesses on the lawful use of another party’s trade mark in New Zealand.
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Is it fair? Lessons from Bartz v Anthropic and Kadrey v Meta
Two contrasting court judgments have been released on whether it is legal to train LLMs using copyright protected works.
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Baby Reindeer – When truth is stranger than fiction?
How would Fiona Harvey's case against Netflix be treated under New Zealand defamation law?
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Deepfakes and style mimicking – Should New Zealand adopt a right of publicity?
A style that has taken an artist a lifetime to curate can now be learned in a matter of months by generative AI.
The copyright conundrum with generative AI
Over the last year, a huge number of generative AI lawsuits have been launched against developers, arguing that their algorithms rely on copyright infringement on an unprecedented scale and their outputs should not attract copyright protection.
You Cannot Defame the Dead or Can You? Tikanga Māori and NZ Defamation Law
Should story tellers and content creators be alarmed by the recent decision in Ellis v The King (2022)? Caitlin explores this in detail.