Media, Internet & Technology

Companies active in the Media, Internet and Technology sectors face many challenges, including disruptive business models, an uncertain regulatory climate, policy disputes, new technologies and distribution modalities, and ensuring effective brand and content protection.  Businesses and investors in these sectors need counsel with wide-ranging experience and deep industry knowledge.

A hallmark of Covington’s Media, Internet and Technology industry practice is our ability to integrate and configure the firm’s extensive regulatory and policy, transactional, intellectual property and litigation expertise in order to meet the specialized needs of clients in highly regulated industries, both domestically and internationally.  Our lawyers bring together industry knowledge, cross-disciplinary coordination and international experience including in Europe, Asia, Latin America and other emerging markets.  This multi-disciplinary and multi-jurisdictional approach enables us to respond quickly and help clients achieve creative and cost-effective solutions.

We provide scalable products and services to Fortune 100 multinational companies and entrepreneurs alike.  Our clients include Internet and telecommunications companies, leading application developers, national broadcast television networks and stations, satellite-delivered cable programming networks, sports leagues, video game publishers and film studios.

Areas of Particular Focus

Social Media.  We work with the creators and developers of social networks, and those who use them for marketing, brand development and communications.  Our expertise includes privacy and data security, brand protection, advertising agreements, and the creation of special-purpose and white-label social-networking sites.  We have experience in social media transactions ranging from the purchase and sale of entire businesses to the negotiation of service and licensing agreements with major providers.  We deal routinely with brand protection and content liability and litigation issues relating to social networks, wikis, blogs and other online media.

Cloud Computing.  We have deep experience in cloud-computing issues, from negotiating agreements with major cloud providers to active engagement in legislative and policy matters relating to distributed storage of data in both the United States and Europe.

Mobile Digital Media.  Our work in the mobile industry includes representing emerging joint ventures among media companies to provide new nationwide mobile video services, negotiations with all major mobile application distributors concerning the distribution of apps and content, and deep involvement in spectrum and other policy and regulatory matters central to the development mobile digital media.

Protecting Innovation.  Our comprehensive intellectual property protection practice is global in scope and extends to all disciplines, including litigation, arbitration, counseling, enforcing, and defending intellectual property.  Our clients have the benefit not only of highly experienced copyright, trademark and patent lawyers in the United States, Europe and Asia, but also a highly effective team of Internet investigators who work seamlessly with our attorneys to protect the IP of software publishers, gaming companies, sports leagues, and other digital publishers.  The relationships we have established in the online ecosystem and with law enforcement, over more than a decade of Internet investigative practice, enable us to work hand-in-hand with our clients to maintain the integrity of product launches and protect and enhance revenue streams. Our business law and antitrust experience also enables us to assist clients to realize the full value of intellectual property rights through licensing agreements, joint ventures, and other distribution programs.

Creation of Digital Industry Standards.  We represent trade associations, business ventures and companies jointly establishing the standards on which the digital industries are based.  As a consequence, we are intimately familiar with patent, copyright and trademark policy issues surrounding the development of industry standards.  We have had a leading role in content protection technology standards, digital media standards (including Blu-Ray, DVD, Mobile DTV and others) and major software standards.

Areas of Focus:

  • Advertising
  • Antitrust
  • Brand Building & Protection (Patent, Trademark, Copyright, Domain Names, Internet Monitoring & Enforcement, Piracy, Cybersquatting, Phishing & Pharming, IP Rights & Policy)
  • Broadcasting
  • Content Licensing
  • Data Protection & Security Breaches
  • E-commerce & M-commerce
  • Film Finance
  • Gaming
  • Legislative/Policy/Regulatory (Executive Branch, U.S. Congress, Federal Communications Commission, Federal Trade Commission, Department of Justice; Europe; China)
  • Online anti-piracy & anti-counterfeiting
  • Privacy
  • Social Media
  • Spectrum
  • Transactions (M&A, Joint Ventures, Strategic Alliances, Investments, Outsourcing)
  • Telecommunications