Media, Defamation, Communications and Information Technology

Through years of professional involvement with the media and communications industries, we are recognised as specialist legal advisers in media, broadcasting, communications, information technology, censorship, and defamation law including:

• legal opinions (on an ad hoc basis) to certain national TV and radio broadcasting institutions such as the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and the Special Broadcasting Service. These relationships have seen the firm provide commercial and technical legal advice with respect to financing, film, television and music production agreements and documentation.
• specialist legal advice for commercial and government broadcasters on a project-by-project basis.
• advice for Commercial Television Australia (CTVA) (previously the Federation of Australian Commercial Television Stations) concerning film funding and government policies in respect of media
• advice concerning the acquisition and leasing of satellite transponders to both government broadcasters and to the Federal Department of Communications Information Technology and the Arts .
• regularly liaising with commercial, government and pay television operators in respect of product acquisition.
• drafting the Electronic Frontiers Australia (EFA) submission to the Productivity Commission Inquiry on Radiocommunications as a pro bono activity, ad hoc pro bono advice to the EFA, and pro bono representation to the new Sydney Community Television licence holder Television Sydney.
• active industry involvement advice and representation in Classification and Censorship for television, film, the Internet and mobile phone networks.
• advice on all aspects of information technology including innovation, development, financing, regulatory requirements and compliance as well as implementation across established and emerging media and platforms.

Overlapping our specialist knowledge of the LITERATURE industries, we provide legal advice about the potential defamatory nature of publications, broadcasts, manuscripts and the like.