Copyright, designs and databases
It was not so long ago that copyright law was largely the preserve of small “media” practices that serviced a fragmented entertainment and publishing industry. Nowadays copyright, and associated rights such as database rights, covers a legal area which has become of key importance to a huge range of international organisations. The growth of the internet, the importance of content, and the convergence of IT, publishing, entertainment and communications have led to a very major increase in demand from clients in a huge range of sectors for in depth copyright advice. In a world in which fortunes can be made by the provision of telephone ringtones, copyright is a central legal issue for many clients.
At Herbert Smith we provide a team of partners and associates who start with an in depth understanding of what is a highly technical and constantly evolving area of law. We add to that a detailed knowledge of industry sectors (especially the media segment) and the technology that is involved nowadays in providing content to end users. We combine these skills with our uncompromising attitude to litigation, where it serves our clients’ interests. This has led to our development of a leading copyright practice handling major matters where we act for, for example, many of the major Hollywood film studios, and where we successfully defended another client in the leading English case concerning the “look and feel” of computer software. We also probably have more experience than any one else of collective licensing disputes and negotiation of appropriate royalty provisions.
Our practice covers film and musical copyright, computer software and multi media and internet based content, as well as more traditional literary and performance rights. We also deal with all aspects of designs (both registered and unregistered) and the increasingly important area of database rights, where we act for clients such as Yell, the leading directory publisher.