Copyright Law

You have noticed that one of your copyrighted works (texts, music, images, software, a whole website or other) is used by others without your permission?

Then you can get advice from us as copyright specialists on how to prevent copyright infringement out of court and in court. 

Please provide us with suitable evidence, 

• what kind of work it is
• whether you yourself are the author, if yes, when the work was created
• whether, by whom and how you have acquired rights of use and exploitation (e. g. by contract)
• when you learned of the copyright infringement
• Source with the copyright infringing material

You receive from us

• comprehensive telephone consultation
• if necessary, an understandable written execution with concrete proposals for action
• Out-of-court representation by issuing a warning of copyright infringement
• Representation in court in interim relief proceedings or lawsuits

The a simple telephone consultation is free. We charge approx. EUR 200, - for a written examination of your claims. This can be higher with greater complexity. In court proceedings, the costs are based on the statutory fees (RVG). 

In any case, we work only after written order. You will receive this from us in advance together with a concrete fee.

Licensing and distribution agreements form the basis for the exploitation of special industrial property rights such as patents, utility models and designs, trademarks and copyrights. Regardless of whether the intellectual property rights are used, transferred or left to be used and exercised, or whether protected products are to be marketed - in any case, a well-developed contract is the best basis for successful marketing. Regulations on the use of intellectual property rights are also essential in such contracts which primarily pursue objectives other than the exploitation of industrial property rights, such as company purchase contracts, distribution agreements such as commercial agents' or authorised dealers' contracts, franchise agreements, etc.

We advise you on the exploitation of your intellectual property rights and the design of your distribution systems. Our advice on the structuring of cooperations in the field of research and development is intended to ensure that you can make optimum use of the results of the cooperation.

Your contact person: Attorney Jens Liesegang

We focus on the following areas in particular:

• Design of distribution systems and preparation of the necessary contracts
• Examination of antitrust issues
• Enforcement of legal and extrajudicial claims arising from licensing and distribution agreements
• Drafting and negotiation of research and development contracts

Secure your rights before the success comes. If there is no success, there is nothing to divide up, once success has been achieved it can easily lead to disputes, which must be avoided.

Like the term record company, the label has kept the name record contract to this day. Before contemplating the signing of a record deal, better still before you start negotiating, you should consult a lawyer who specialises in music law. There are record contracts and production contracts. The record deal is usually concluded with a record company, production contracts with a producer who then concludes a record, label or distribution deal. The payment is made via license shares on a percentage basis. 

Some important technical terms are:

Exclusivity: Record contracts are always concluded "exclusively". This means that the artist is not allowed to take photographs for exploitation by any other company for the duration of the contract. This does not apply to recordings which are produced by TV stations or broadcasters for their programmes or events, but which may not be sold in any form whatsoever. When signing these contracts, make sure that you do not accidentally release recordings for exploitation.  

Title protection: Record companies require title protection for a period that exceeds the duration of the record contract. This means that they are not allowed to record these titles with other companies for the duration of the title protection.   

Contract Duration: Make the contract duration dependent on what the record company guarantees you in releases. Per contract year this should be at least 2 singles and at least every two years an album. If the record company only wants to test and get an option on the album, then you must have the possibility to cancel the contract. 

Promotion - Budget: A difficult subject, because the record company will hardly get involved in a sum of money. Insist in any case on a music market advertisement (1/2 page per single 1/1 page per LP) and on autograph cards. Posters, on the other hand, are needed for live performances where the record company doesn't earn anything. So there is no reason for the record company to pay for it. 

GAS: Germany - Austria - Switzerland 

Club business: Supplementary sales via book clubs such as Bertelsmann and Weltbild. 

Second and third use: A production is first marketed as a Personality - Single or Personality - Album in the high-price range. Individual titles are used relatively quickly with compilations. After a certain amount of time the titles slide into the medium price segment, later into additional low-budget publications.

Media law is applied in the creative industries of graphics, advertising, music, film, press and publishing. It concerns authors, persons affected by reporting, designers, photographers, journalists, artists, media companies, musicians, producers, actors, publishers, advertising agencies. Advice in the field of media law includes counterstatements, assertion of fee claims, personal rights, claims for damages and compensation for pain and suffering, prosecution of infringements and contract drafting & contract management.

Typical problems:

I'm a photographer. Recently I discovered a photo of myself in the advertisement without having granted the right to use it? Do I have a claim for compensation or fee?

I wrote a television concept. How can I best protect it from imitation?

What possibilities do I have to prevent the unauthorized distribution of[nude] photos of me?

Do I have a claim to a reasonable fee for the presentation of an advertising concept to a customer who ultimately decided against me?

What do I need for contracts in a film production, what kind of contracts in a music production?