This section recognises the leading lawyers in the media industry in respect of contentious and non-contentious matters. We rank firms by specialist expertise in tables for Film & Television; Advertising & Marketing; Music & Talent; Theatre & Live Events; Publishing; and Games, Interactive Entertainment and Social Media. Individuals are ranked relative to one another by specialism.
Non-contentious work as covered by this section may include production, financing and distribution arrangements, as well as IP, licensing and supplementary rights planning.
Types of disputes in this area are many and may include copyright and contractual litigation (e.g. on behalf of studios, producers, publishing houses or talent), matters arising from film finance, comparative advertising and ASA disputes.
A note on Games, Interactive Entertainment and Social Media:
On the games side, work in this area can be commercial and contentious matters concerning videogame platforms and titles.
Social media and interactive entertainment work of particular interest to this section is commercial, corporate and IP, and regulatory (e.g. advice on the UK Online Safety Act). Please note that traditional music licensor - licensee music copyright transactions involving social media platforms usually counts towards the Music & Talent category, unless issues concerning end-user modification of copyrighted content are central to the transaction.
Likewise, talent work concerning influencers and vloggers is covered in the expanded Music & Talent category.
Please note that defamation actions are not considered in our publishing rankings; please refer to the Defamation/Reputation Management section. The Publishing rankings do however consider matters concerning pre-publication clearance, reporting restrictions and press regulation.
Related sections: Defamation/Reputation Management
