Client Services / London / European Telecom, Media & Technology

European Telecom, Media & Technology

Our European Telecom, Media & Technology (TMT) Group provides advice on licensing, commercial, corporate, regulatory, litigation and financing issues. Our clients are involved in every aspect of the media, entertainment, technology and communications sector and are active in the mobile and fixed line telephony, cable and satellite TV, media, broadcasting (Free TV and Pay TV), entertainment, film production and distribution, film financing, merchandising, internet, e-commerce, IT, software, hardware, outsourcing and telematics industries.  We also represent financial institutions with interests in these industries.

We appreciate the importance of understanding the nature of our clients' business and offer them the advantage of extensive experience gained from both private practice and relevant in-house roles.  The European TMT Group closely works with TMT attorneys in the Firm’s European and US offices, and with lawyers in other practice areas and correspondence law firms to provide our clients with a fully integrated approach to solving their legal issues, worldwide.

All telecommunications, media and technology lawyers have particular expertise in areas of law such as intellectual property, copyright, media, telecoms and IT.  Our lawyers provide advice for commercial transactions, licensing and distribution agreements, mergers and acquisitions, litigation and all regulatory and strategic matters affecting the TMT industries.  Our experience includes representing numerous companies who are entering and diversifying into the European and international communications, media and technology markets.

Our lawyers have in-depth knowledge in all areas of broadcasting and media regulation. We counsel clients on issues ranging from general advice on the broadcasting and programming regulatory framework in the European Union and its member states to a number of commercial contracts such as disposal and acquisition of rights, production agreements, output deals, license agreements, copyright matters and transactions related to the convergence of media and network technologies such as digital broadcasting.  The telecommunications practice includes advising on licensing, lobbying and regulatory matters, and contractual advice and negotiations in relation to network building, outsourcing, equipment and software supply, service provision and many other issues.  Our lawyers have also developed specific skills on internet related issues and transactions like VoD, IPTV and VoIP.  We represent companies across the whole spectrum of IT related matters, e.g. in drafting and negotiating general software license, maintenance and support, ASP, VAR, end user license, technical and professional service, CRM services, consulting partner, software development and software project agreements.  We also advise on E-commerce agreements in relation to content distribution, search distribution, co-branding, cross promotion, web-design, web-hosting, hotline services and other internet backbone agreements.  We have further advised on several IT outsourcing projects, hardware distribution and public procurement as well as data protection issues.

Our TMT practice has been ranked equal first in these areas and our lawyers have been consistently highly ranked.  In 2004, our practice was nominated for the JUVE Award “Law Firm of the Year for Media” and went on to win it in 2005.  Our TMT lawyers are recommended in Chambers, Euromoney Legal Group, Juve, AmLaw German Commercial Law Firms, Practical Law Company and European Legal 500.

Representative transactions from our TMT group include:

  • Advising a major European ISP on the purchase of Video-on-Demand film rights from major US film studios, on the conclusion of IPTV agreements with broadcasters and the regulatory framework of IPTV and on the provisioning of Voice-over-IP services.
  • Advising parties on a joint venture to establish a new digital TV broadcaster on their corporate, commercial and regulatory requirements.
  • Advising cable-network operators in concluding distribution agreements with major TV broadcasters of their programs and digital services as well as with collecting societies for cable distribution rights and litigating against TV broadcasters in relation with the digital distribution of their programs.
  • Advising broadcasters as well as cable-network operators in a broad range of regulatory matters including broadcast licensing, assignment of frequencies, cable capacity allocation, non-discriminatory access to the digital platform, betting and gaming and other key issues.
  • Litigating against a cable allocation decision by a German state media authority on behalf of a teleshopping company.
  • Advising on the antitrust issues arising from the merger of cable operators.
  • Representing a consortium of investors in respect of their acquisition of a major regional cable-TV network .
  • Advising a major bank (in a consortium with a publisher) on the intended purchase of the largest European film library (asset deal and due diligence) and the conclusion of a television licensing agreement with a major broadcaster.
  • Advising a film rights dealer on the intended purchase of a German film library (asset deal and due diligence).
  • Advising a broadcasting group on several mergers & acquisitions projects.
  • Advising an upstart teleshopping company on the seed financing by major venture capital providers and on ongoing commercial issues.
  • Providing ongoing advice to a broadcaster in relation to various operative matters, e.g. negotiating the production agreement for a major reality TV series and the package license agreement with a US film studio.
  • Advising a broadcasting group in a litigation against an online video recorder service for copyright violations.
  • Advising a US film studio in the insolvency of a German media group, in connection with the new Pay TV output and channel carriage agreements with a leading Pay TV operator, and on the successful conclusion of a settlement agreement with the administrators of the insolvent German media group.
  • Drafting customer terms and conditions for new telecoms products.
  • Advising a UK Third Generation License bidder on all aspects of the auction process and during the auction itself.
  • Advising a new telecommunications operator entering the German market on network access, interconnection, DSL and rate regulation issues.
  • Assisting a major U.S. entity entering the German market on IRU agreements and right-of-way issues.
  • Advising parties engaged in bandwidth trading on relevant regulatory, e-commerce and commercial issues.
  • Advising internet based traders and telecom providers the legal issues relating to online auctions.
  • Advising telecoms operators on equipment acquisition contracts.
  • Drafting and negotiating interconnection agreements for both incumbents and new entrants.
  • Drafting specialized commercial agreements for those active in the sector including managed bandwidth and service level, local tail, network build, technical system, network operation & maintenance agreements, MVNO and reseller agreements.
  • Providing strategic advice on the successful conduct and resolution of disputes involving telecoms operators and equipment providers.
  • Advising the German subsidiary of a US supplier of visual computing and high-performance systems on public procurement proceedings, software agreements, general terms and conditions, German and EC distribution related antitrust issues, complex project agreements and litigation with regard to license infringement.

Contacts

London Client Services

McDermott Will & Emery

McDermott Will and Emery