Entertainment & Media Practice

The Practice comprises a specialist team of dedicated and passionate practitioners well versed in the nuances of the entertainment and media industry and ready to embrace new technologies and the challenges these present for the law. With grounded and concise advice, they assist clients in exploiting the value of their assets (intellectual property) and in building relationships between clients and their partners.

WITHIN THIS PRACTICE
Practice areas

Our efforts as one of the very few law firms in Singapore with an entertainment and media law practice have been recognized within the industry. Our lawyers are leading entertainment and media practitioners in Singapore.

Protecting creativity

The Practice is committed to securing and protecting clients’ key assets being the creativity within the various ‘players’ in the entertainment and media industry – performers, artists, producers, film directors, actors, and the works they create.

We are able to guide clients in unlocking the value of the product of their creation and in safeguarding it for continued commercial exploitation.

Depth of experience

In an entertainment world that increasingly values cross-media knowledge, our experience in this industry allows us to provide valuable and prompt advice to our clients. Our clients include motion picture and television producers, television networks, authors, investors, technology companies, game companies, writers, performers, government entities, to name a few.

Breadth of our practice

We provide advice to clients on a broad spectrum of entertainment and media related matters including rights acquisition, film and television (live action, animated, reality and other genres) financing, production and distribution, merchandizing, game development and publishing, multiple platform exploitation including new media commercialization or Internet based projects, sponsorship and endorsement, data protection, confidentiality and privacy issues, technology related matters.

Our Practice in addition spans litigation based work including acting for clients in media related disputes, prosecuting parties on behalf of rights owners for infringement of the rights owners’ intellectual property works such as unauthorized downloads of copyright materials, unauthorized sale of infringing works.

Some of the services we provide include :

• Celebrity endorsement agreements
  
• Sponsorship agreements
  
• Film and Television Series financing, production and distribution
  
• Entertainment related investment agreements
  
• Co-productions
  
• Sales agent agreements
  
• Merchandising agreements
  
• New media (including Internet) and communications
  
• Entertainment collaboration arrangements
  
• Recording agreements
  
• Talent agreements
  
• Copyright and trademark advice including prosecution, exploitation
  
• Intellectual property rights assignment and licensing
  
• Option agreements
  
• Rights clearances and acquisition
  
• Product placements
  
• Virtual worlds
  
• Intellectual property litigation, including copyright, trade mark, design and patent infringement
  
• Anti-piracy enforcement actions

Cross-pollination

With our broad client base, it is not uncommon for our lawyers to introduce and / or bring clients together to collaborate on entertainment / media projects.

Sports Law Practice

With issues ranging from rights management and sponsorship to finance and regulatory matters, the fast developing field of sports law requires a very wide range of legal expertise – and a team, like ours, that’s totally dedicated and always at the top of its game.

Led by Lau Kok Keng, our fast growing Sports Law Practice has few equivalents in the legal industry. Our talented team provides advice of the highest quality to clients right across the sporting spectrum.

Covering every inch of the field

To give you just a flavour of the diversity of the work we handle, we have advised sports bookmakers on legal and regulatory issues; TV broadcasters on issues relating to the use of sports content; sports governing bodies on funding and governance; sports personalities and commercial sponsors on the exploitation of intellectual property rights; and athletes on doping, corruption and misconduct charges.

Notable recent projects include performing legal due diligence for the International Olympic Committee in relation to the Beijing Olympic Games 2008; drafting the legislation and rules for the introduction of Formula 1 betting in Singapore; and being appointed as legal advisors to the Singapore Asian Youth Games Organising Committee, the Singapore Sports Council and professional S-League club Etoile FC.

WITHIN THIS PRACTICE
Practice areas

Within this practice, we undertake legal work relating to the following:

Player Representation, Image Rights and Endorsement

• Player contracts
• Work permits
• Player transfers
• Endorsement contracts

Strategic Rights Management

• Advising on strategic and planning issues
• Formulation and implementation of business and commercial plans
• Legal and commercial rights structures

Governance and Regulatory Matters

• Advising on regulatory issues and the development of regulatory structures for national and international governing bodies, event organisers, clubs and individuals
• Drafting governing body regulations
• Advising on sports governance issues
• Advising on implementation and enforcement of anti-doping programmes

Sports Finance

• Mergers and acquisitions
• Joint ventures
• Flotation on the stock market
• Strategic corporate options and financial models
• Media franchising documentation, including investment agreements, equity financing agreements and bank
  loan agreements

Sports Facilities and Stadia Development

• Acquisition and management of stadia
• Construction contracts
• Advice on all planning aspects

Brand Protection and Licensing

• Brand creation
• Trademark and copyright and design protection and enforcement programmes
• Implementation of brand licensing strategies
• Content Licensing

Sports Sponsorship and Event Management

• Sponsorship, merchandising, ticketing and other commercial agreements
• Strategic sports commercial advice
• Protection, enforcement and exploitation of commercial rights

Regulation of Sport

• Advising governing bodies and sports associations on rule making and legal compliance
• Advising on competition law and other external regulatory regimes

Sports Broadcast and New Media

• Television, radio, internet, video and all related commercial rights agreements for acquisition and exploitation
• Rights clearance 
• Acquisition, identification and protection of rights and distribution/exploitation arrangements for such content on all media
• Interactive gaming and sports e-commerce arrangements

Dispute Resolution in Sport

• Litigation of disputes
• Alternative dispute resolution
• Challenges to enforceability of rules and regulations
• Challenges to / enforcement of rulings of governing bodies
• Advising on disciplinary procedures and acting in related proceedings
• Disputes over dope testing procedures and results

Sports Betting

• Advising on sports betting structures
• Crafting of sports betting rules
• Advising on regulatory aspects of sports betting
• Advising on customer claims complaints and disputes

Our Clients

• International Olympic Committee
• UEFA
• Singapore Sports Council
• Singapore Pools
• Football Association of Singapore
• Mediacorp
• Starhub
• Singapore Sports Hub Consortium
• British and Irish Lions Tour of South Africa
• Air Sports New Zealand
• Dentsu Pte Ltd
• The Red Card Pte Ltd
• Repucom Asia Pte Ltd
• World Wakeboard Association
• Various national athletes and sports personalities
• Li Ning (China) Sports Goods Co., Ltd
• Super Reds Football Club
• S&M Sportshub Pte Ltd
• North Queensland Fury FC Tour of Asia 
• Etoile FC
• Total Sports Entertainment
• Commodities Asia Pte Ltd
• Youth Initiatives
• Dream + Pte Ltd 
• Singapore Asian Youth Games Organising Committee

Gambling Practice

Since 2002, we have acquired extensive experience in this area, representing clients involved in every aspect of the gaming industry –  including acting as legal counsel for Singapore’s only legalized lottery, gaming and betting operator. In fact, we would be willing to wager that no law firm in Asia can provide you with better, more expert advice on how gambling law affects your business . . .