Media
We use our legal know-how to ensure your success in the media age.
The media industry remains in a state of upheaval: with increasing digitalisation, the ways in which media content is used and distributed have changed beyond recognition. In the TV segment, “over the top” (OTT) providers are challenging established TV broadcasters, and streaming and on-demand offers are taking their toll on proven licensing models. Online advertising is becoming more effective thanks to big data analyses and the use of artificial intelligence, and content and influencer marketing are playing an ever greater role.
This close interplay between traditional and new media gives rise to a wide range of legal issues. Regulatory requirements for broadcasting and platforms are key topics. But at the same time, companies from the press, film and television industries and equally providers of online media are being forced to rethink and make sure their business has a strong legal footing, not least when it comes to copyright, licensing and youth protection law.
Our services
Advertising & marketing
- Product placement, sponsoring, branded entertainment
- Influencer marketing
- Merchandising
- Purchasing classic advertising time, especially in volume deals and “media for equity” deals
- Purchasing and marketing online advertising space
- Agency contracts
- Advertising film production
Broadcasting & platforms
- Licensing of radio and television stations
- Disseminating and marketing broadcasting content (distribution)
- Pay TV and on-demand services
- Hybrid broadcast broadband TV (HbbTV)
- Exploiting rights in digital media
- Protection of minors in the media
- Media-related employment law and collective agreements in the television industry
- Transparency with intermediaries
- Administrative procedures with state media authorities
Digital media
- New forms of exploitation in digital media and convergence of classical media offerings in digital media
- Liability for content in digital media (“notice and take-down” procedures, hate speech)
- Journalism and AI
- Drafting contracts for access to platforms
- Advising companies on their positioning in media and social networks
- Advising on copyright and ancillary copyright issues when commercialising digital content
- Data protection and youth protection in digital media
- Financing and handling projects by way of crowdfunding
Film
- Providing advice and support for film projects – from the acquisition of story rights to exploitation
- Reviewing and drafting production, licensing, film acquisition and theatrical distribution agreements
- Bestseller proceedings according to section 32a of the German Copyright Act
- Arbitration proceedings pursuant to section 36 of the German Copyright Act
- Claims for information pursuant to section 32d of the German Copyright Act from authors to users
- Advising on national and international film promotion, including aspects of tax law
- Media-related employment law, collective agreements in the film industry
- Negotiating joint remuneration arrangements/impacts on individual contracts
- Law of collecting societies, copyright tariffs
Games & gambling
- Game development: drafting developer agreements and licence agreements with rights holders, registering intellectual property rights
- Licensing and concession procedures for bricks-and-mortar and online business models
- Remuneration models such as end-user licence agreements for online games
- In-game and game marketing, including defending clients’ rights against imitators and competitors
Music
- Planning and drafting contracts for music events
- Exploitation of rights
- Artists’ law, including artists’ social security law
- Taxation of artists
- Law relating to the German music rights organisation GEMA
Press & publishers
- Advising on the right to freedom of expression
- Advising on the right of to free speech, infringements of personality rights and unauthorised use of likenesses
- Defending clients against claims under press law, preparing written warnings intended to prevent publication
- Providing legal support for companies in the event of imminent damage to their reputation (legal reputation protection)
- Exploitation agreements, including sub-publishing agreements
- Copyright, publishing law and litigation
Sport & sponsorship
- Media exploitation contracts for sporting events
- Sponsorship agreements for major sporting events
- Advertising for the hosting of major sporting events
- Perimeter advertising contracts, digital overlay, LED boards
- Naming-right contracts with sports arenas
- Sponsorship contracts, e.g. football, basketball, Formula 1, Formula E
- Advising European football clubs on compliance with UEFA Financial Fair Play Rules
- Structuring of IPOs and alternative financing of sports clubs
- Testimonial contracts between companies and athletes/well-known sportspeople
- Merchandising contracts for sporting events and football clubs
- Cultural sponsorship, drafting and negotiating sponsorship contracts
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“[Noerr’s] Media practice traditionally plays a key role in the media policy landscape. It is involved in ... ground-breaking decisions in the German film industry ... The fact that the team has always advised on large-scale film productions, including international ones, means that it is predestined to advise on complex questions (often including disputes) in this area, where several legal disciplines converge.”
JUVE Handbook, 2022/2023Insights
“Very strong at the interface with antitrust law and in media transactions, many years of experience in the film industry.”
JUVE Handbook, 2022/2023Related topics
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