Media, sports and communications

The challenges facing businesses in the media and communications industries are constantly reshaping – and at a furious pace. These businesses require advisers who are committed to understanding their specific needs and who can bring to them cutting edge legal and business solutions.

Lawrence Graham has a long history of advising businesses across these industries. This not only follows from our deep understanding of the legal issues raised by new media technology and today's knowledge-driven business environment, but from our clients working with our advisers across Lawrence Graham's wide field of legal expertise.

So, while we are often advising on the full range of commercial transactions necessary to build businesses and excel in this competitive industry, we are equally found guiding our media and communications sector clients through various forms of dispute resolution, international corporate transactions and employment law matters.

We are also pleased to act as a professional partner to the London Innovation Centre, supporting the development of new London-based businesses.

Media, sports and communications

This sector focus means that our lawyers maintain a close knowledge of the current issues and developments in the media and communications arena. We believe that our clients see real benefit as we have this level of focus and understanding of the sector. It enables us to provide real added value when advising on any media or communications related issues.

We can advise you on:

• E-commerce, online contracts, and social media
• Publishing
• Sponsorship, merchandising, and product endorsement
• Sports
• Telecommunications

Media, sports and communications

Entertainment Rights is a leading UK independent media group specialising in the ownership of children's and family programming, characters and brands including ‘Postman Pat’ and ‘Basil Brush’. We handled all aspects of the $305 million acquisition of Classic Media Holdings, the US-based owner of an extensive portfolio of children's and family characters and brands (including ‘Lassie’ and ‘The Lone Ranger’), by Entertainments Rights. The acquisition of Classic Media effectively doubled the size of Entertainment Rights and the transformation of its business into a global player marked the culmination of its declared international growth objective.

We advised Opus Media Group on a series of high-profile publishing licence agreements in order to obtain the rights to publish a unique series of high-quality premium-priced books under the 'Kraken Opus' imprint. Licence agreements include Formula One, Arsenal, Manchester United, Diego Maradona and the NFL: these projects are ongoing and have attracted national media comment.  We also negotiated related agreements such as product endorsement contracts with Sir Bobby Charlton and Sir Alex Ferguson, image rights agreements with Joe Montana and Diego Maradona, and a photographers agreement with Walter Loost.

BAM! Entertainment, Inc. is a developer, publisher and marketer of interactive entertainment software worldwide. We advised BAM! on its offer to purchase VIS entertainment plc which designs and develops technologically advanced interactive games software for major console platforms and which provides interactive content for interactive digital TV and broadband communications. Our work included advice on the ownership of the IPRs for certain unpublished games software.

We acted for Robin Hardy, the producer and director, in the production of a new film 'The Wicker Tree' by British Lion Film Corporation. The film is in a similar vein to Robin Hardy's 1973 classic film 'The Wicker Man' and the new film again features Christopher Lee as Lord Summerisle. The film, which was shot on location around Dallas, Texas and in the Scottish lowlands, was completed in 2009 and is scheduled for an initial US release in 2010. The UK film market is not large and the various funding elements that need to be brought together to successfully produce a film for theatrical release are complex, and we are pleased to have played a key role in bringing a film under the 'British Lion' screen title back to cinema screens.

Media, sports and communications