Media ADVERTISING and Entertainment 

Rayner Rowe has a full-service media, advertising and entertainment law practice, representing production companies, agencies, executives, authors, writers, directors, actors, television personalities, producers, recording artists, composers, managers, music publishers, record companies and many other clients in the entertainment, advertising and media industry.  Our attorneys negotiate the full spectrum of agreements in this field on behalf of individual clients, as well as television, music and multi-media production companies.

Rayner Rowe has extensive experience in the television industry representing leading producers, executives and distributors in all aspects of the negotiation, production, distribution and the further exploitation of programming content across television and non-television platforms and venues. 

In many cases, we act as the equivalent of our client’s legal and business and affairs department.  Our history of negotiations with numerous broadcast and cable networks enables us to draw upon our understanding of standard terms, and the deviations from those terms, in negotiating the particulars of such deals on behalf of our clients.

In short, we know what to ask for, and, importantly, how to ask for it.  Once a pilot or series has been commissioned, we advise on all aspects of production and have encountered and found solutions to many problematic issues that confront ambitious and groundbreaking producers.

Representative clients in the advertising industry include:

  • Smuggler

  • Division7

  • I& Co.

  • Preacher

  • Alto

  • MoJo Supermarket

  • Preymaker

  • Tape

  • Seeker

Representative clients in the television industry include:

  • Kinetic Content

  • Raw

  • Shed

  • Backroads Entertainment

  • Ricochet

  • Fabrik Entertainment

  • Fabel

  • StreetSmart Vidoe

  • STV plc.

  • DRG

  • Betty

  • Twenty Twenty

  • Indie TV

  • Northern & Shell

Rayner Rowe also has extensive experience in the music industry representing high-profile artists, large companies and entrepreneurs.  Representative transactions include superstar level recording agreements; co-publishing and administration deals, music catalogue acquisitions and dispositions, copyright reversions; licensing, merchandising, touring and sponsorship agreements, management agreements, joint ventures and 360 deals. 

We represent authors in the literary space, software designers, fashion designers, theatrical producers, book writers and composers, entertainment and advertising executives, and others business and creative personalities. 

In addition to working with our clients on their media and entertainment needs we also work closely with them on their fundraising, mergers and acquisitions and other corporate activities.

Recent client representations in corporate transactions in the media sector include: Fabrik Entertainment LLC (The Killing and Burn Notice) and its principals in relation to an investment by Pro Sieben Sat1’s Red Arrow Entertainment Group; Northern & Shell plc. (owner of Channel 5 and Express Newspapers) on its sale of OK! Magazine in the U.S. and Canada; Kinetic Content LLC in relation to its investment from Red Arrow Entertainment Group; Broadway Near You LLC on its fundraising activities as well as its Stagecast rights acquisition strategy; and Smuggler, a leading commercial production company. 

 

Trademarks

Rayner Rowe has extensive experience in applying for, prosecuting and defending trademarks.  We offer strategic advice from the initial planning stage through registration of the trademark.  We have helped clients shape their branding strategies and marketing plans.  We have helped clients file for trademarks around the globe.  Our clients include cosmetic companies, food and beverage producers, advertising agencies, entertainment companies, entertainers, liquor companies, software developers and various consumer goods companies and service providers. 

Anyone can simply file a trademark application.  However, to file a thoughtful application taking into account your present and potential future uses of the trademark, as well as common pitfalls and potential issues that may arise takes a skilled trademark attorney.  If you are starting a business in the United States, plan to expand abroad, and wish to protect your brand, or if you have already filed a trademark application and have received a substantive office action from the USPTO, an opposition or a cease and desist letter, we can assist you.   

Recent matters include:

  • Successful trademark cancellation proceeding for a U.K. media and entertainment company with an established foreign trademark expanding into the United States.

  • Successful appeal to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals against the United States Patent & Trademark Office for refusing to register an Irish client’s trademark.

  • Planning global trademark strategy for an organic cosmetics company.

  • Working with China-based law firm for the registration of certain trademarks in China.

  • Advising advertising agency on various slogans, phrases and marks for use by their clients.

 

 

General Corporate Services

Rayner Rowe’s attorneys have extensive experience in the establishment, structuring, and financing of non-public corporations, limited liability companies and various other business entities. We represent established companies, entrepreneurs and early stage start-ups in all aspects of their growth cycle.  We understand the value of being part of a client’s business from the ground up and strive to provide cost-effective services to help our clients start-off on the right foot.  Whether it is in the initial formation documents, Series A or convertible note financing or mergers and acquisitions, we have a depth of experience to provide commercial and pragmatic solutions.

Rayner Rowe frequently acts on behalf of companies and individuals in connection with:

  • Shareholder and Operating Agreements

  • Merger and Acquisition Transactions

  • Venture and Debt Financings

  • Licensing Agreements

  • Executive Compensation Packages

  • Employment and Consulting Agreements

  • Software Development Agreements

  • Trademark Prosecution and Appeals

  • Copyright Protection

Recent client representations in corporate transactions:

  • Fabrik Entertainment LLC (The Killing and Burn Notice) in relation to an investment by Pro Sieben Sat1’s Red Arrow Entertainment Group

  • Northern & Shell plc. (Owner of Channel 5 and Express Newspapers) on its sale of OK! Magazine in the U.S. and Canada

  • Bendigo Partners LLC on its portfolio investments and exits.

  • Kinetic Content LLC in relation to its investment from by Pro Sieben Sat1’s Red Arrow Entertainment Group

  • Broadway Near You LLC on its fundraising activities and its Stagecast rights acquisition strategy

  • Dstillery (formerly Media 6 Degrees) on its formation and venture capital raising.

  • Shed Media, plc. on its sale to Warner Bros.