Stephen M. Fronk

STEPHEN FRONK is a co-leader of Sidley’s Technology and Life Sciences Transactions practice and a founding member of the Entertainment, Sports and Media group. He advises clients in the media, sports, technology, food, nutrition, and other industries, who have said “Stephen is an excellent outside counsel that has helped us support some of our most complex partnerships, consistently demonstrates high judgment on both legal and business issues and solutions, and is adept at explaining and guiding clients on both – Stephen reliably and consistently delivers high-quality work product” and “Can always count on Stephen and his time for high-quality support that’s responsive, attentive to business goals, and practical. A pleasure to work with.”

Stephen advises emerging and public companies, venture funds, entrepreneurs, and individuals on a wide range of intellectual property-related issues, including copyright, patent, trademark and trade secret licensing, protection and enforcement, software and hardware development and distribution, and the establishment and operation of internet-based businesses and services. He also routinely counsels clients on the intellectual property-related aspects of mergers, acquisitions, spin-offs, and strategic investments. In particular, Stephen has deep experience advising clients on digital media-related transactions and for many years has negotiated digital entertainment content distribution deals with leaders in the movie, television, music, publishing, and consumer electronics industries. Representative clients include Amazon.com, Churchill Downs, eBay, Hulu, Microsoft, PayPal, Splunk, Salesforce.com, Twitch, and Vital Proteins.

Stephen has been ranked by Chambers USA since 2023, most recently for Technology in California (2025), was named to The American Lawyer’s 2022 “West Trailblazers” list for his work in the expanding universe of technology and media law, and was named in The Hollywood Reporter’s 2022 “Power Lawyers” list, which recognizes Hollywood’s top 100 attorneys. He was named by Variety in the “Dealmakers Impact Report” (2019, 2021–2023), as well as in the “Legal Impact Report” (2017–2018, 2021–2022), which profiles the best legal minds working in film, television, theater, and digital media. Stephen also was recommended in the “Media, Technology and Telecoms” category by the Legal 500 US (2014–2015), and was named as one of the world’s leading patent and technology licensing lawyers in IAM Licensing 250 2011: The World’s Leading Patent & Technology Licensing Practitioners, published by Intellectual Asset Management (IAM) magazine.

“[Stephen] is so practical and does a really good job of communicating. He’s a pleasure to work with.”
Chambers USA 2025

Examples of the types of transactions on which Stephen routinely advises clients include:

• Digital video content acquisition and distribution agreements with major movie studios, television networks, and cable networks for consumer access to films, television episodes, and other video content under various business models, including subscription, transactional and ad-supported video-on-demand (VOD), and electronic sell-through (EST);
• Device integration agreements with manufacturers of internet-enabled televisions, Blu-ray Disc players, tablets, mobile phones, and other consumer electronics devices to enable consumers to utilize cloud-based voice services, and to access online digital entertainment services, directly from those devices;
• Development and service agreements with online video distribution platform providers and online video and serving platform providers;
• Digital music content acquisitions and distribution agreements with major record labels and significant independent labels;
• Patent and software (including source code) license agreements with digital compression and security standards-related IP owners, proprietary data and media server technology providers, and digital rights management (DRM) solution providers; and
• Digital book and periodical acquisition and distribution agreements, as well as technology development and component supply agreements, relating to online digital book services and wireless e-book devices. 

Before practicing law, Stephen worked as a curator at the Dulwich Picture Gallery in London, England, where he organized an exhibition on the history of public and private art galleries in Great Britain and contributed to the related catalog. During law school, he served as a judicial extern for Judge Marilyn Hall Patel of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.

Notable transactions on which Stephen has advised include:

• Amazon in the preparation and negotiation of multiple agreements with commercial partners for Alexa+, Amazon’s next-generation AI assistant.
• Amazon in its strategic transaction with Disney to introduce Hey, Disney!, a new custom voice assistant based on Amazon’s Alexa Custom Assistant solution.
• eBay in the intellectual property and technology-related aspects of the separation of eBay and PayPal into two public companies.
• Mastercard in its acquisition of (i) Recorded Future, a global threat intelligence company, for US$2.65 billion, (ii) Dynamic Yield, the provider of a state-of-the art personalization and decision engine platform, from McDonald’s, and (iii) Finicity, a leading North American provider of real-time access to financial data, for US$825 million, including an earn-out of up to US$160 million.
• MIPS Holding, Inc. in its merger with an affiliate of GlobalFoundries (Nasdaq: GFS), combining MIPS’ long-standing leadership in processor IP development and GlobalFoundries’ advanced manufacturing to position a standalone MIPS business for scalable, secure, and power-efficient AI infrastructure.
• Churchill Downs in its (i) US$2.485 billion acquisition of substantially all of the assets of Peninsula Pacific Entertainment, (ii) US$250 million acquisition of Exacta Systems, a leading provider of technology to support horse racing operations across the U.S., and (iii) sale of Big Fish Games, a mobile gaming company, to Aristocrat Technologies for US$990 million.
• Audeze, an audio technology brand, in its acquisition by Sony Interactive Entertainment.
• Siris Capital Group in (i) its sale of Fiery, a provider of software solutions for commercial print, packaging, signage, ceramics, building materials, textiles, and other specialty applications, to Seiko Epson for US$591 million, (ii) its acquisition of BearCom, a North American solutions provider of wireless communications and security technologies, from Bertram Capital, (iii) acquisition by its affiliates of Electronics for Imaging for US$1.7 billion, and (iv) sale of Stratus to SMART Global Holdings, a company that provides simplified, protected, and autonomous computing solutions.
• IDEX Corporation in its (i) US$1 billion acquisition of Mott Corporation, a leading designer and manufacturer of filtration and flow control solutions for a range of high-value end markets such as medicine, computing power, sustainable energy, and space exploration, (ii) acquisition of STC Material Solutions, an integrated provider of advanced material science solutions, from Artemis, (iii) acquisition of Iridian Spectral Technologies, a global leader in designing and manufacturing thin-film, multi-layer optical filters, and (iv) €700 million acquisition of Netherlands-based Muon B.V., a micro-precision technology manufacturing company.
• Funds managed and/or advised by the subsidiaries of Apollo Global Management in their acquisition of The Travel Corporation, a family-owned business which boasts a global portfolio of exceptional, market leading travel brands, including: Trafalgar, a leading escorted tour operator; Uniworld Boutique River Cruises, a luxury all-inclusive river cruise line; Contiki, youth travel specialist tour company; and Insight Vacations, premium guided vacation company.
• Zinnia in its strategic acquisition of Policygenius, a digital insurance marketplace.
• Omnicell in its acquisition of (i) MarkeTouch Media, a provider of pharmacy prescription management and patient engagement solutions, and (ii) ReCept Holdings, a leading provider of specialty pharmacy management services for health systems, clinics, and physicians groups.
• Amazon in its partnership with the New York Yankees and the YES Network to live-stream 21 New York Yankees games on Amazon Prime Video.
• Salesforce in its US$1.33 billion acquisition of Vlocity, a leading provider of industry-specific cloud and mobile software.
• Splunk in its (i) US$1.05 billion acquisition of SignalFx, a SaaS leader in real-time monitoring and metrics for cloud infrastructure, microservices, and applications, and (ii) US$350 million acquisition of Phantom Cyber, a cybersecurity company.
• Shape Security, a fraud prevention platform, in its sale to F5 Networks for US$1 billion.
• NiSource in the sale of the gas distribution business of its subsidiary, Columbia Gas of Massachusetts, to Eversource Energy for US$1.1 billion.
• Cigna Corporation in the sale of its group life and disability insurance business to New York Life, the largest mutual life insurer in the United States, for US$6.3 billion.
• Diplomat Pharmacy in its sale to UnitedHealth Group for an enterprise value of approximately US$900 million.
• Tang Media Partners in its acquisition of Open Road Films, a theatrical motion picture distributor, from AMC Entertainment and Regal Entertainment Group.
• Home Chef in its merger with Kroger, a transaction valued up to US$700 million.
• TransUnion in its acquisition of iovation, an anti-fraud technology company.
• Aon in the sale of its benefits administration and human resources business process outsourcing platform to Blackstone for US$4.8 billion.
• Each of Orion Entertainment, a television production company best known for HGTV’s “Tiny House Big Living” and DIY’s “Building Alaska,” and 44 Blue Productions, a television production company best known for A&E’s “Wahlburgers” and “Nightwatch,” in a long-term, worldwide distribution arrangement with Red Arrow Entertainment, a ProSiebenSat1 holding company.
• AwesomenessTV, a multi-platform digital media company co-owned by DreamWorks Animation and Hearst, in its strategic partnership with Endemol Shine Group to extend the international reach of the AwesomenessTV brand.
• Entertainment One in its acquisition of a controlling interest in Renegade 83, an unscripted television production company best known for Discovery Channel’s hit “Naked & Afraid.”
• Tribeca Enterprises, operator of a network of branded entertainment businesses, including the Tribeca Film Festival, in its joint venture with Lionsgate for the launch of the “Tribeca Short List” online subscription video-on-demand video service.
• The Mark Gordon Company, producer of “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Criminal Minds,” and “Ray Donovan,” in its sale of a 51% stake to Entertainment One, for US$132.6 million.
• Pilgrim Studios, an independent production company best known for reality television shows such as “Ghost Hunters” and “Fast N’ Loud,” in connection with a strategic investment by Lionsgate.
• SEGA Networks, an interactive entertainment company, in its acquisition of Demiurge Studios, a developer of mobile, console, and PC games.
• International Game Technology in its (i) acquisitions of rights to various fictional characters, celebrities, and media properties for use in its casino games, (ii) sale to Italian lottery operator Gtech for US$4.7 billion in cash and stock, and (iii) purchase of DoubleDown Interactive, leading developer of casino-style Facebook games, for US$500 million.

• State Bar of California