Pryor Cashman Partners Briana Hill and Simon Pulman, co-heads of the Media + Entertainment Group, spoke with the Games Industry Law Summit about the firm's increased focus on the games industry. The firm is a sponsor of this year's event.

In "Q&A with Pryor Cashman," Briana and Simon discuss how the firm's "deep understanding of gaming and extensive experience and contacts in the world of entertainment make us ideally positioned to advise on 'transmedia' issues at the intersection of the two worlds. We regularly act as facilitators and 'translators' between gaming companies and entertainment companies in Hollywood and internationally."

They go on to explain in detail how they work with Partner Robert deBrauwere in the M+E Group to support clients in the video games sector:

Pryor Cashman capitalizes on the strengths of our Media + Entertainment transactional and litigation groups and our leading-edge intellectual property attorneys. The result is a deep bench of industry veterans who work seamlessly to negotiate contracts and deals that achieve our clients' goals, identify potential areas of liability, and vigorously enforce contractual and property rights in high-stakes litigation. When the situation requires, our corporate, tax, immigration, real estate, and banking and finance attorneys draw from their broad experience in every facet of the industry to enable our clients to flourish in their creative and business endeavors.

  • Making Movie + Television Magic: with our support, award-winning games, films, documentaries, and television projects make the long, high-risk journey from concept to reality. We represent rights-holders and creators as well as motion picture and television production companies in negotiations to option material; engage writers, directors, and talent; and negotiate and execute a wide variety of production financing and distribution transactions.
  • Protecting + Monetizing Music: we've watched the music business change dramatically over the last five decades and have been at the forefront of game-changing industry developments that have shaped the law for the digital age. We routinely take on high-stakes intellectual property disputes and are known for representing international pop stars, rock icons, major music publishers, labels, and recording studios in headline-grabbing and cutting-edge deals and litigation.
  • Building Brands, Defending Privacy, and Preserving Creative Freedom: Hollywood superstars, multiplatinum recording artists, celebrity chefs, reality TV personalities, professional athletes, fashion designers, supermodels, and more rely on Pryor Cashman to enhance their personal brands and protect their reputations and revenue streams. We negotiate licensing and employment agreements, performance contracts, and endorsement deals that maximize the value of our celebrity clients' names, voices, likenesses, and intellectual property. When these personal assets are wrongfully used, we vigorously enforce our clients' rights, including retrieving thousands of infringing domain names and winning the key case that established the industry standard in the areas of privacy and publicity rights (Rogers v. Grimaldi, MGU/UA).

We also work with clients throughout the publishing industry to ensure their creative works are protected from copyright infringement, including asserting and defending against fair use claims. Further, our publishing attorneys are skilled in representing clients regarding defamation and privacy issues in newsgathering and advertising, and we recently successfully settled a highly publicized, first-of-its-kind social media defamation case.

Behind the scenes, our attorneys assist individual artists and executives, athletes, and producers with immigration needs, tax issues, matrimonial and custodial matters, and estate planning. Entertainment is a global business, and our immigration attorneys ensure that international executives, entertainers, and celebrities can work in the United States and abroad. We are also adept at managing labor and employment matters, negotiating individual talent agreements, and seeking damages and restitution for breach of contract.

The firm's Media + Entertainment Transactions and Financing Practice continues to be instrumental in deals that help shape the industry. We're able to provide transactional counsel for both traditional and new media platforms, applying cross-disciplinary legal skills and decades of industry insights to craft and close complex transactions that meet our clients' short- and long-term strategic goals in projects that range from feature films and documentaries to television and streaming entertainment. We've worked on the sale of domestic and international motion pictures and maintain extensive contacts in the foreign sales market that enable us to complete complex foreign pre-sales financings. Our success in this area includes cross-border deals that have attracted participation from foreign public companies and private equity shops alike.

Read the full Q+A using the link below.

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