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Media and Entertainment

The media and entertainment sector is evolving rapidly under the effect of dematerialization, the multiplication of access to content on all media and the advent of multichannel. These transformations, which affect areas such as television, radio, cinema, music, publishing and the press, reinforce the need to consolidate regulation, particularly in terms of copyright protection and by extension increased protection of content. Faced with these complex legal issues, and thanks to a cross-disciplinary approach, we support our French and foreign clients on current and diversified issues. We provide tailor-made expertise to meet the specific needs faced by operators in this dynamic and demanding environment.

 

Areas of intervention

International and domestic arbitration

We assist our clients in international and domestic arbitration proceedings, offering effective solutions to resolve disputes in cross-border co-productions with cross-financing, production and distribution contracts of audiovisual and cinematographic works. Our expertise in ADR & Mediation allows us to promote amicable resolutions, preserving commercial and artistic relations in copyright matters, in particular before the IFTA (International Films and Television Association) Arbitration Tribunal or the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) Arbitration and Mediation Center.

Contentious

We represent our clients, both as plaintiff and defendant, in litigation related to the media and entertainment sector, such as press law cases, cyberharassment, copyright and related rights disputes or commercial law disputes. We intervene before the competent courts to defend the interests of authors, screenwriters, directors, producers, service publishers and other players in the sector.

Project financing

We advise on the financing of audiovisual and cinematographic projects, helping to structure co-production operations, often international, to obtain aid and subsidies from the CNC (National Centre for Cinema and the Moving Image) and to secure investments.

Mergers and acquisitions

We assist companies in the sector in their M&A transactions, carrying out due diligence, negotiating SPAs and ensuring compliance with specific regulations. Our expertise also covers media and entertainment restructurings and private equity transactions.

Audiovisual regulation

We help our clients navigate the complex regulatory framework of the audiovisual sector, ensuring compliance with the applicable regulations and conventions that fall under the jurisdiction of ARCOM (Regulatory Authority for Audiovisual and Digital Communication). This includes issues relating to service broadcasting authorisations, programming, information and programs ethics and respect for pluralism, advertising, accessibility of programs for people with disabilities, relations between service publishers and distributors and the regulation of VOD and SVOD platforms.

Corporate law

We advise on corporate law aspects for companies in the sector, including the creation of production, publishing and distribution companies, as well as the management of partnersrelations and corporate governance.

Copyright and related rights

We offer expertise in copyright and related rights, protecting audiovisual and cinematographic works, screenplays, music, but also artists’ performances, audiovisual communication companies’ programs and press publishers’ publications. We assist in the drafting and negotiation of rights transfer and licensing agreements and ensure that the moral and economic rights of creators are respected. We also act as advisors in the clearance of content, to meet the requirements of Error & Omission Policy (E&O).

Competition law

We advise on competition law issues, ensuring the prevention of anticompetitive practices and assisting our clients in responding to the Competition Authority’s questionnaires or in proceedings before the competent authorities.

Personality law and press law

We intervene in disputes involving the various personality rights (privacy, image rights, presumption of innocence, etc.) and more generally those relating to press law. We assist clients in cases of defamation, insult, and protection of their reputation on social networks and traditional media.

Content clearance

We help with the clearance of content, by verifying the rights attached to works, trademarks, images, and by securing the exploitation of content on all media, including digital platforms, and for the international market.

Trademark law

We assist in the protection of trademarks, domain names, and other distinctive signs, by ensuring the filing and renewal procedures, and by defending rights in the event of counterfeiting or unfair competition.

Taxation and international taxation

We advise on national and international tax aspects related to the sector’s activities, including tax incentive mechanisms for the financing of audiovisual and film production.

Film law

We offer specific expertise in film law, covering the legal particularities of production, distribution, cinema operation, and relations with institutions such as the CNC.

Businesses in difficulty

We assist companies in the sector facing financial difficulties, by offering tailored solutions such as restructuring, receivership or business transfer.

Blockchain

We advise our clients on the use of blockchain in the media and entertainment sector, including copyright management, traceability of works and authentication of content.

Examples of support

We are co-counsel to a European production company involved in an arbitration before the ICC concerning the failure to pay public aid to the production of a series filmed in Latin America and the financing of the production of the series.

We advised an American production studio and an SVOD platform in the context of the risk assessment process for the preparation, principal shooting in France, as well as the promotion and release of several international series. Our assistance covered the legal aspects of audiovisual production, ensuring compliance with local regulations throughout the process.

We advise an American studio in the production of an animated feature film in France, with a French animation studio using the International Tax Credit (C2i or TRIP), resulting in the implementation of a series of financial guarantees during the content manufacturing phase. 

We assisted an international advertising agency in the validation of a television campaign in France, as part of the launch of a new product. We examined each stage of the campaign (scripts, storyboard, videos…) drawing the client’s attention to the particularities of the French law applicable to its sector and the rights of third parties, while providing practical recommendations for the necessary changes to the television broadcast. We also managed the exchanges between the client and the French advertising self-regulatory body (“ARPP”), which validates television campaigns in France.

We support a production company backed by a major audiovisual group in the development and production of a line-up including films and series that are the subject of international financing and intended for the global market. This includes a series based on a famous novel that is expected to be shot in the United States and a feature film whose European co-production is due to take place in 2025.

We assisted our client, a communications group specializing in public relations and events, in the organization of a music festival combining traditional events and innovative experiences in a Web3 environment. This project also involved the development of a sustainable system to unite the entire global music ecosystem.

We represent a coalition of major players in the content creation and on-demand entertainment services industry, committed to promoting legal video content and fighting online piracy. We assist the members of this coalition in legal actions based on Article 145 of the Civil Procedure Code and Article 6 of the Law on Confidence in the Digital Economy, targeting technical intermediaries and asking them to provide identification data on the operators of infringing sites.

We assisted and represented before the Paris Judicial Court the publishing companies of a leading audiovisual group to obtain compensation for the damage they suffered due to the violation of their related rights as an audiovisual communication company following the resumption, without authorization, of their programs by a digital platform.

We regularly assist and represent directors of national media publications and journalists prosecuted before the Criminal Courts on the basis of public defamation of an individual.

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Deals 20 March 2023
De Gaulle Fleurance assisted the Opéra national de Paris with its first NFT collection

Awards

Chambers France 2025
Awards TMT : Information Technology
Chambers
De Gaulle Fleurance ranking for TMT in the Chambers France 2025
Chambers France 2025-Georgie Courtois
Awards TMT : Information Technology
Chambers
Georgie Courtois ranking for TMT: Information Technology in the Chambers France 2025
Awards TMT : Information Technology
Chambers
Louis de Gaulle ranking for TMT: Information Technology in the Chambers France 2025
Chambers France 2025-Charles-Edouard Renault
Awards TMT : Information Technology
Chambers
Charles-Édouard Renault ranking for TMT: Media in the Chambers France 2025
Awards Medias, culture, sport et loisirs : CINEMA
Décideurs
De Gaulle Fleurance recognized in the 2024 Décideurs – Leaders League ranking, category: Media and Entertainment
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Awards TMT : Information Technology
Best Lawyers
Charles-Edouard Renault recognized in the 2025 edition of Best Lawyers France

Our professionals

Philippe
Moncorps
Partner
Bruno
Deffains
Lawyer - Of Counsel
Thibaut
Brenot
Lawyer
Anne-Sophie
Leclerc
Lawyer - Senior Counsel

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