Media & Entertainment
Maitland has specialists who act in disputes arising in the fields of music, publishing, film and television, particularly where such disputes touch on the exploitation of intellectual property rights, partnerships between performers, restraint of trade and breach of contract.
Our members who specialise in this area have acted for most of the major record companies and have been instructed in disputes in relation to recordings of artists such as The Beatles, The Verve, The Smiths, Damon Albarn, Elvis Costello, Van Morrison, Tom Jones, Mis-Teeq, Elton John, Stereophonics, Kylie Minogue, Steve Winwood, Snow Patrol, Muse, Lily Allen, Sugababes, Placebo and Seal.
Our work includes acting in disputes over copyright and rights in performance, trade and service marks, confidential information, passing off, registered and unregistered design rights, moral rights and database rights.
Our work in this area includes:
- advising the British Phonographic Industry on internet piracy measures
- Newspaper Licensing Agency v PR Consultants Association - representing the NLA in a dispute over the exploitation of copyright by media monitoring organisations and their customers
- Crosstown Music v Taylor/Barry - appearing for songwriters in claim for reversion of copyrights
- Chart Show v Video Performance Limited - proceedings to determine the royalty to be paid by music TV broadcasters to the record companies
- representing founder member of the Sugababes in a partnership dispute
- MGT v Setanta Sports - a case in relation to TV licensing agreements
- McClelland v Lightbody - a dispute between the former and current members of Snow Patrol
- Mandy Allwood v Max Clifford - a claim by Mandy Allwood against her former publicist
- acting for artists, celebrities and media companies, such as Busted, former members of The Smiths, Joss Stone, Steve Winwood, Gary Rhodes and Revolver Films
- acting for copyright collecting societies (such as PPL and the MCPS/PRS Alliance),
- acting for the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters in a landmark copyright tribunal claim concerning the online licensing of music
Maitland Chambers is recommended in the Legal 500.