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CMS

Media & Entertainment: Music: Contentious

UK Guide 2026 : UK-wide

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CMS

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Provided by CMS

Please visit the CMS website for more details about the practice and our work:

Law firm specialised in Media - CMS in the UK

Chambers Review

Provided by Chambers

Media & Entertainment: Music: Contentious - UK-wide

What the Team is Known For

CMS has a major presence in the media sphere, offering superb expertise in corporate matters. It advises broadcasters on channel distribution agreements, and film producers on major motion picture development. The firm also offers a celebrated gaming and games tax relief practice, and strong presence in the digital and social media field. The firm also has a highly respected advertising and marketing department with a glittering brand-side client base. Additionally, the team features a significant commercial and contentious music practice.

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Work Highlights

Provided by Chambers

  • CMS advised the Esports World Cup Foundation on many of its advertising and marketing initiatives for the Esports World Cup 2024, including advertising arrangements with TikTok and X.

Strengths

Provided by Chambers

  • The have in-depth knowledge and good industry contacts and have advised many businesses on advertising activities. We have used CMS for some complex matters and they have been very effective.

    Media & Entertainment: Music: Contentious respondentUK

  • The team's strength is their unsurpassed knowledge. They are always accessible, hard-working and good-natured through testing times.

    Media & Entertainment: Music: Contentious respondentUK

  • They demonstrate strong commercial acumen, are able to grasp and thoroughly digest our business objectives, and help us balance risk to support better, well-rounded decision-making.

    Media & Entertainment: Music: Contentious respondentUK

  • They anticipate challenges, provide actionable insights, and support clients from project inception to execution.

    Media & Entertainment: Music: Contentious respondentUK

  • They stand out for not being afraid to stand behind their advice. It's common for law firms to say "there's a risk here", but it's not usual for a firm to confirm they think an ad is fine risk-wise.

    Media & Entertainment: Music: Contentious respondentUK

Notable Practitioners

Provided by Chambers

  • Selina Potter
    Selina Potter

    Selina Potter

    Selina Potter advises broadcasters, SVOD platforms and rights holders on all aspects of film and TV content acquisition, carriage and distribution. She also advises on media regulation with respect to major M&A and joint ventures in broadcasting.
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  • John Enser
    John Enser

    John Enser

    John Enser is well known for his wide-ranging media and technology practice. He advises broadcasters and media companies on the full span of commercial, corporate, online regulatory and copyright law matters concerned with music and audiovisual content and its distribution.

    • John has great knowledge and expertise on a wide range of legal and commercial matters and can advise quickly and clearly on even the most complex of matters.

      Media & Entertainment: Music: Contentious respondentUK

    • He is super-available and understands the urgency. He brings in the market and business perspective.

      Media & Entertainment: Music: Contentious respondentUK
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  • Victoria Gaskell
    Victoria Gaskell

    Victoria Gaskell

    Victoria Gaskell advises production companies, SVOD platforms and broadcasters on all manner of commercial and regulatory matters. She also handles joint ventures and M&A in the sector.

    • She is very pragmatic. She delivers all of the advice in a well thought-out, easy to digest and very commercial way. I find her extremely easy to get along with.

      Media & Entertainment: Music: Contentious respondentUK

    • Victoria combines excellent legal skills with a commercial sharpness and pragmatism that greatly helps the business achieve broader commercial aims as well as simply managing legal risk

      Media & Entertainment: Music: Contentious respondentUK

    • Victoria's expertise has been invaluable in guiding us through complex matters with international partners, enabling us to achieve successful commercial outcomes on all our licences.

      Media & Entertainment: Music: Contentious respondentUK

    • Victoria Gaskell is highly capable, very responsive and a pleasure to work with.

      Media & Entertainment: Music: Contentious respondentUK

    • Victoria Gaskell is our go-to on difficult and high-profile broadcasting matters.

      Media & Entertainment: Music: Contentious respondentUK
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  • Steven Corney
    Steven Corney

    Steven Corney

    Steven Corney is a media litigator with an impressive roster of music, broadcasting and digital media clients. He is highly recommended for copyright infringement, commercial, royalty and tortious disputes.

    • We use Steve as a litigation sounding board and he is very helpful.

      Media & Entertainment: Music: Contentious respondentUK

    • Steven is brilliantly observant, extremely knowledgeable and very supportive.

      Media & Entertainment: Music: Contentious respondentUK
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  • Stuart Helmer
    Stuart Helmer

    Stuart Helmer

    Stuart Helmer is head of the CMS advertising and marketing group in London. He advises a broad range of businesses on compliance as well as contentious advertising matters and is experienced in dealing with complaints made to the ASA.

    • He is extremely capable, consistent and experienced.

      Media & Entertainment: Music: Contentious respondentUK

    • Stuart has provided expert, practical and commercially minded advice to our business.

      Media & Entertainment: Music: Contentious respondentUK

    • Stuart is very commercial and gives me opinions of ads, which means I can advise the business accordingly. I also find him very professional.

      Media & Entertainment: Music: Contentious respondentUK
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  • Tom Scourfield
    Tom Scourfield

    Tom Scourfield

    Tom Scourfield is a solicitor-advocate and is the UK chair of the consumer products sector group at CMS. He has notable expertise in intellectual property and provides advice to clients in advertising disputes as well as on matters relating to regulatory compliance and greenwashing.

    • He knows us very well and is an extremely pleasant, amiable guy to work with. He is extremely capable, consistent and experienced.

      Media & Entertainment: Music: Contentious respondentUK
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Ranked Individuals at CMS (7)

UK-wide

  • Profile image of Stuart Helmer

    Stuart Helmer

    Media & Entertainment: Advertising & Marketing

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  • Profile image of Tom Scourfield

    Tom Scourfield

    Media & Entertainment: Advertising & Marketing

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  • Profile image of Selina Potter

    Selina Potter

    Media & Entertainment: Film & Television

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  • Profile image of Victoria Gaskell

    Victoria Gaskell

    Media & Entertainment: Film & Television

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  • Profile image of Steven Corney

    Steven Corney

    Media & Entertainment: Music: Contentious

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  • Profile image of John Enser

    John Enser

    Media & Entertainment: Music: Non-contentious

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Provided by CMS

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