Music & Media Rights | Thorntons Intellectual Property Law

For those working in the media and creative industries, such as artists, musicians, software developers, publishers or event organisers, protecting and making the most of intellectual property (IP) rights can be key to success.

In this fast-moving area of law, it is important to get the right advice and at Thorntons our experienced team can help protect your rights and take a commercially focused approach to the use of your IP assets.

Copyright of your creations

Copyright exists in a number of creations, such as music, lyrics, books, paintings, photographs, sculptures, buildings, software, computer games – even this website!

Copyright is an automatic right; there is no need to obtain formal registration – as soon as a ‘work’ is created (put into a tangible form), it is protected by copyright.

If you own the copyright in a work, you (or your co-authors if the work was created with someone else) have the right to copy, display, show, rent, or broadcast it. You also have the right to prevent others from copying the work or distributing it without your permission. If you believe your copyright is being infringed, we can help you take action to enforce your rights.

Creative Industries

At Thorntons, we can advise on wide range IP issues across the creative industries. Here we look at a couple of these areas in more detail.

Music

There is a wide range of issues relevant to IP if you work in the music industry, and it is important to get legal advice to ensure you are protecting your IP rights and making the most of any potential development. Key areas include recording agreements, publishing agreements, management agreements, contracts for live events, licensing arrangements, copyright infringement and relationships with royalty collection societies such as performing rights society PRS for Music, PPL and MCPS.

At Thorntons, our specialist IP team can advise you on all aspects of IP, supporting you with robust agreements and contracts, and enforcing your rights when needed.

TV and Film

When working on a television or film project, it is very important to ensure that all necessary contracts are in place to obtain and protect the relevant IP rights. We can assist with all aspects of this including drafting and negotiation of contracts, infringement issues and so on.

As traditional media providers face an ever-changing marketplace, technologies have added a new dimension to content and their relationship with consumers. Our specialists offer a complete legal service to those working within the industry. For example, we recently advised one of our clients on the acquisition of online streaming rights of funded TV content and sponsored TV programmes.

Other creative industries

We also advise in relation to a number of other areas across the creative industries including film, radio, gaming & software, publishing and online publishing, theatre & the performing arts, museums and galleries, and advertising and social media.

What our clients say.

Strong team, delivering good practical advice within timescales

Legal 500, 2023

How can Thorntons help?

Whether you are an individual music artist or an international corporation, working in the dynamic and fast-changing media and creative industries sector brings its own pressures. IP assets are a vital part of business in this sector, and we can help you protect and make the most of your IP rights with clear, constructive and commercially focused advice tailored to your needs.

Our dedicated media team provide legal advice to a wide variety of clients in the creative industries, with particular focus on the publishing, social media, TV and music sectors. We specialise in providing legal advice relating to brand protection and infringement, sponsorship, production, publishing, rights clearance, and all related commercial activities.

Our team, with its recognised experts in this area, is one of the largest in any law firm based in Scotland. It has particular expertise in advising media clients in the areas of online publishing, advertising and marketing, and on managing convergence between traditional media and online.

Call the Thorntons Business Law team on 03330 430350 to find out more about how we can help you deal with music, media and creative rights issues, or complete our enquiry form and we will contact you.