Herr Sebastian Schwiddessen > Baker McKenzie > Frankfurt, Germany > Lawyer Profile
Baker McKenzie Offices

Junghofstrasse 9
60315 FRANKFURT AM MAIN
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Herr Sebastian Schwiddessen

Work Department
Data and Technology
Position
Sebastian Schwiddessen is a counsel and a member of Baker McKenzie’s TMT Practice in Berlin. Sebastian has been working in the entertainment and video games industry for over 20 years. At the age of 21 he founded his own media news related business and web portal where he oversaw up to 50 content creators and was responsible for content creation, data protection, advertisement and regulatory matters. After joining Baker McKenzie in 2014, he sold his business to fully focus on his career as a legal advisor in the media and IT sector. Sebastian studied law in Berlin and Australia, where he specialized in platform, media and IT matters. During his time as a law clerk he worked for two international law firms, one of them specialized in entertainment law.
Due to his experience in the fields, Sebastian is responsible for most media and platform related matters in Germany and regularly coordinates global projects for clients. He is one of Baker McKenzie’s EMEA key contacts for interactive entertainment clients and is also part of the firm’s global working group for interactive entertainment. Sebastian maintains good contacts to a number of regulators in Germany, where he has been invited several times to speak as legal expert on regulatory and other matters. Sebastian is Baker McKenzie’s designated contact for the GAME association in Germany and regularly visits video game industry events such as the Gamescom, VGBA Law Summit and the Games Industry Law Summit.
Sebastian’s clients range from various platform providers over market leading video gaming, film, video on demand and entertainment companies to indie publishers. Sebastian is well-known as an advisor in the video games and entertainment sector. He also regularly advises a wide range of leading social media companies and video-sharing platforms on regulatory and copyright related matters.
Sebastian’s practice focuses on all matters of platform, media and IT law such as platform liability matters, the EU Copyright Directive, media related youth protection and criminal laws, advertisement regulation, hate speech laws, data protection law, copyright law, gambling laws, eCommerce, app commerce, contract law, film taxes, etc.
Sebastian also regularly advises on the media and IT aspects of M&A activities and was involved in several entertainment industry related M&A transactions.
Languages
English, German
Education
- Bond University (Master of Law with specialization in IP, IT, eCommerce) (2014)
- High Regional Court of Berlin (Second State Exam) (2012)
- Free University of Berlin (First State Exam) (2010)
Lawyer Rankings
Deutschland > Medien > Entertainment
(Partner der nächsten Generation)Baker McKenzie berät Mandanten aus den Bereichen Videospiele und soziale Medien in regulatorischen Angelegenheiten, einschließlich Jugendschutz, Inhaltsmoderation und Werberecht. Die Praxisgruppe ist eng mit dem M&A-Team der Kanzlei verbunden und betreut dadurch zudem Transaktionen im Medienbereich. Counsel Sebastian Schwiddessen, der Regulatorik und Transaktionsbegleitung zu seinen Schwerpunkten zählt, übernahm die Leitung der Gruppe nach dem Abgang von E-Commerce und Datenschutzrechtler Holger Lutz zu Clifford Chance im Mai 2023.
Germany > Media > Entertainment
(Next Generation Partners)Baker McKenzie routinely advises clients from the gaming and social media sectors on regulatory matters, including youth protection, content restrictions as well as advertising law and the team cooperates closely with the firm’s M&A team in the course of media-related transactions. Counsel Sebastian Schwiddessen focuses on regulatory and transaction support and took over the role of practice head following the departure of e-commerce and data protection lawyer Holger Lutz, who moved to Clifford Chance in May 2023.
Lawyer Rankings
Top Tier Firm Rankings
- Dispute resolution > Arbitration (including international arbitration)
- Information technology > Data protection
- Information technology > Information technology and digitalisation
- Information technology > IT transactions and outsourcing
- Public sector > Public procurement
- Trade and distribution > Trade, distribution and logistics
Firm Rankings
- Dispute resolution > Commercial litigation
- Compliance > Compliance
- Trade and distribution > Foreign trade law
- Industry focus > Healthcare and life sciences
- Compliance > Internal investigations
- Industry focus > Telecoms
- Corporate and M&A > Corporate
- Employment
- Industry focus > Energy
- Real estate and construction > Real estate
- Public sector > State aid
- Capital markets > Structured finance and securitisation
- Tax
- Intellectual property > Unfair competition
- Antitrust
- Corporate and M&A > M&A
- Public sector > Planning and environment
- Intellectual property > Trade marks
- Media > Entertainment
- Banking and finance > Lending and borrowing
- Restructuring and insolvency > Restructuring