Blackstone Chambers is regarded by clients as the ‘go-to’ set for media and entertainment cases, offering ‘tremendous strength in depth’ of expert barristers in this field. Their barristers act in a variety of cases across media, on behalf of film and theatre companies, publishers and high-profile individuals. Robert Howe KC frequently acts for clients in the music industry, including recently in Noel Redding Estate Ltd v Sony Entertainment Ltd, where he represented Sony in a dispute on copyrights and performers rights in Jimi Hendrix’s recordings. Tom Weisselberg KC acted in a partnership dispute on behalf of ex-Culture Club drummer Jon Moss against his former bandmates concerning his ejection from the band.
Media and entertainment in
London Bar
Blackstone Chambers
Testimonials
‘Derek Sutton is great to work with.’
‘The clerks are very helpful. We usually deal with Danny Compton, who is very good at arranging help from very busy barristers.’
‘Brilliant set – Blackstone is a go-to for many of our disputes.’
‘Blackstone Chambers has a good range of barristers in this field, particularly at the top end.’
‘Blackstone remain, in my opinion, the leading set for contentious work in contentious matters relating to media and entertainment. They have tremendous strength in depth – silks leading their field, and juniors hot on the tails! Superb.’
‘Blackstone’s offer unparalleled depth in civil proceedings.’
‘A brilliant set. They have the top KCs, but their junior people are also always excellent.’
‘All contact good. Senior clerk excellent.’
Hogarth Chambers
Considered to be ‘clearly excellent’ in media and entertainment law, the barristers of Hogarth Chambers frequently instructed in film and music cases for an array of clients, from management through to artists, often in cases with an intellectual property angle. Andrew Norris KC successfully acted for the BBC in Molavi v Gilbert case, defending the broadcaster and one of the writers of long-running drama Silent Witness against claims that two episodes of the show broadcast in 2019 were plagiarised. Gwilym Harbottle represented the claimant in Entertainment One UK Ltd v SConnect Media LLC, a dispute between the creators of Peppa Pig and a Vietnamese children’s cartoon named Wolfoo, which is alleged to have breached copyrights relating to the British show. In Evans v John Lewis PLC and DDB UK Limited case, Michael Hicks successfully argued that the ‘Excitable Edgar’ character in the retailer’s 2019 Christmas advert had not infringed copyright from a children’s book written by the claimant.
Testimonials
‘David Court is a pleasure to work with, attentive and follows up on all issues.’
‘Adam Homes is a pleasure to work with. He is responsive and helpful.’
‘Hogarth are clearly an excellent set with heavyweight practitioners and some very promising juniors. They are consistently in the top IP sets.’
‘Excellent’
‘Responsive and helpful.’
‘The clerks are great and always happy to help.’
‘Excellent’
‘The clerks are very helpful and friendly.’
Work highlights
11 South Square
11 South Square houses a number of highly regarded barristers who act in media and entertainment cases concerning copyright infringement, brand protection and use of goodwill cases, frequently for clients in the music industry. Hugo Cuddigan KC is instructed by digital radio aggregator TuneIn concerning the hyperlinks to international radio stations it provides to its users in Warner Music & Sony Music v TuneIn Inc.
Testimonials
‘Ashley Carr, Sam Fullilove and Jordan Foley are all experienced and user friendly.’
‘Ashley Carr is great to work with, responsive and accommodating to client’s needs, while being realistic about timescales.’
’11 South Square’s clerks are excellent, responsive, clear and will always go the extra mile.’
‘Excellent clerks.’
‘Very strong set with strength in depth. There is always someone appropriate to take on a given case.’
Work highlights
8 New Square
The barristers at 8 New Square regularly act in high-profile media and entertainment cases, where barristers combine their specialist knowledge in television, film and broadcasting to work on varied cases. Martin Howe KC represented the claimant in Molavi v BBC and Gilbert, a copyright case concerning the scripts of a two-part episode of Silent Witness. Jonathan Hill represented the claimants in Shazam Productions v Only Fools The Dining Experience, in which it was found that an immersive dinner theatre performance featuring characters, but not dialogue, from Only Fools and Horses was a breach of the claimant's copyright, the first case establishing that a character can be a freestanding copyrighted work.
Testimonials
‘Specialist set in IP generally, pleasure to deal with.’
‘My dealings with the clerks were always over telephone and email, and they were always friendly, efficient and courteous.’
‘Very good’
Work highlights
Blackstone Chambers
Testimonials
‘Derek Sutton is great to work with.’
‘The clerks are very helpful. We usually deal with Danny Compton, who is very good at arranging help from very busy barristers.’
‘Brilliant set – Blackstone is a go-to for many of our disputes.’
‘Blackstone Chambers has a good range of barristers in this field, particularly at the top end.’
‘Blackstone remain, in my opinion, the leading set for contentious work in contentious matters relating to media and entertainment. They have tremendous strength in depth – silks leading their field, and juniors hot on the tails! Superb.’
‘Blackstone’s offer unparalleled depth in civil proceedings.’
‘A brilliant set. They have the top KCs, but their junior people are also always excellent.’
‘All contact good. Senior clerk excellent.’
Hogarth Chambers
Considered to be ‘clearly excellent’ in media and entertainment law, the barristers of Hogarth Chambers frequently instructed in film and music cases for an array of clients, from management through to artists, often in cases with an intellectual property angle. Andrew Norris KC successfully acted for the BBC in Molavi v Gilbert case, defending the broadcaster and one of the writers of long-running drama Silent Witness against claims that two episodes of the show broadcast in 2019 were plagiarised. Gwilym Harbottle represented the claimant in Entertainment One UK Ltd v SConnect Media LLC, a dispute between the creators of Peppa Pig and a Vietnamese children’s cartoon named Wolfoo, which is alleged to have breached copyrights relating to the British show. In Evans v John Lewis PLC and DDB UK Limited case, Michael Hicks successfully argued that the ‘Excitable Edgar’ character in the retailer’s 2019 Christmas advert had not infringed copyright from a children’s book written by the claimant.
Testimonials
‘David Court is a pleasure to work with, attentive and follows up on all issues.’
‘Adam Homes is a pleasure to work with. He is responsive and helpful.’
‘Hogarth are clearly an excellent set with heavyweight practitioners and some very promising juniors. They are consistently in the top IP sets.’
‘Excellent’
‘Responsive and helpful.’
‘The clerks are great and always happy to help.’
‘Excellent’
‘The clerks are very helpful and friendly.’
Work highlights
11 South Square
11 South Square houses a number of highly regarded barristers who act in media and entertainment cases concerning copyright infringement, brand protection and use of goodwill cases, frequently for clients in the music industry. Hugo Cuddigan KC is instructed by digital radio aggregator TuneIn concerning the hyperlinks to international radio stations it provides to its users in Warner Music & Sony Music v TuneIn Inc.
Testimonials
‘Ashley Carr, Sam Fullilove and Jordan Foley are all experienced and user friendly.’
‘Ashley Carr is great to work with, responsive and accommodating to client’s needs, while being realistic about timescales.’
’11 South Square’s clerks are excellent, responsive, clear and will always go the extra mile.’
‘Excellent clerks.’
‘Very strong set with strength in depth. There is always someone appropriate to take on a given case.’
Work highlights
8 New Square
The barristers at 8 New Square regularly act in high-profile media and entertainment cases, where barristers combine their specialist knowledge in television, film and broadcasting to work on varied cases. Martin Howe KC represented the claimant in Molavi v BBC and Gilbert, a copyright case concerning the scripts of a two-part episode of Silent Witness. Jonathan Hill represented the claimants in Shazam Productions v Only Fools The Dining Experience, in which it was found that an immersive dinner theatre performance featuring characters, but not dialogue, from Only Fools and Horses was a breach of the claimant's copyright, the first case establishing that a character can be a freestanding copyrighted work.
Testimonials
‘Specialist set in IP generally, pleasure to deal with.’
‘My dealings with the clerks were always over telephone and email, and they were always friendly, efficient and courteous.’
‘Very good’