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comfortable being uncomfortable, which changed my fear of failure and led me to see failures as opportunities to be better.”
That lesson, the idea of treating failure as a launchpad, became central to his leadership philosophy. It prepared him for the next chapter, when he left DIRECTV to join the Motion Picture Association( MPA).
At the MPA, John built a new program focused on working with online platforms to disrupt global piracy and protect member studios’ IP. Over five years, he worked with technology companies around the world, learning how they approached content moderation, enforcement, and their relationships with rights holders.“ The MPA asked me to help develop ways to work with online platforms to break up these piracy networks,” John explains.“ We explored different approaches to protect the members’ IP rights.”
The next challenge
By late 2023, John felt ready for the next challenge.“ What intrigued me was being on the platform side instead of the rights-holder side. I wanted to see how things really work behind the scenes on the other side,” John remarks.
He joined TikTok in December 2023, just a few months after TikTok Shop launched in the US and right before major ban litigation resumed in early 2024. TikTok Shop is an in-app marketplace where users can browse and buy products without leaving the app. It gives brands and creators the ability to sell or promote items through shoppable videos, livestreams, and a Shop tab. The timing might have made a more cautious lawyer pause.“ At the start of 2024, I remember asking myself,‘ What did I get myself into?’” he reflects.
Instead, the experience reinforced the importance of resilience, a quality John values in himself and throughout TikTok’ s culture.“ Despite the ban on litigation, the attacks and challenges, the company continued to thrive and grow. We’ ve reached a successful resolution to the litigation, and now we’ re ready to do even more,” John points out. He describes teams that stay focused on improving the platform while the legal process unfolds.
Today, John tackles complex IP issues spanning North and South American teams. He ensures consistent governance standards across markets while adapting to changing laws and expectations.
Going above and beyond
John sees innovation and ethics as complementary, not competing.“ In fact, when done well, they actually reinforce each other,” he observes. His IP team proves this by building foundational processes that exceed minimum legal requirements.
John has improved foundational IP workflows, such as note-and-takedown reporting, escalation paths, and rights-holder tools. TikTok goes
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