Media & Entertainment

"The clerks team are extremely helpful and friendly. Super responsive and they go over the way to meet solicitors and client’s needs."


The Legal 500

Chambers’ media and entertainment work spans television, theatre, gaming, literature, music and film. Often arising in the context of our core commercial and regulatory practice areas, it also frequently overlaps with our sports law and art and cultural property work.

Members have broad experience of advising on commercial contracts between media organisations and companies, agencies, managers, promoters and trade associations, and of acting in related disputes. This work extends to financing agreements, production agreements, publishing and distribution agreements, licensing agreements, and other contractual arrangements, often with an intellectual property or employment law dimension.

Other experience includes advising in fraud-related matters in the media and entertainment sectors, including in relation to finance schemes, often also involving professional negligence allegations where we have a market-leading practice.

Members also have experience of advising on claims resulting from alleged failure to comply with relevant regulations, and of matters involving serious allegations against individuals and organisations in the media and entertainment fields, crossing over into commercial crime work.

Members of Chambers are adept at handling sensitive and confidential issues in this field, including in matters involving high-profile individuals and organisations.

Our work includes cases relating to:

  • Commercial contracts
  • Criminal allegations
  • Employment advice
  • Fraud claims
  • Intellectual property issues including copyright, licensing, royalties, trademark issues and other image rights
  • Professional negligence claims
  • Regulatory disputes

  • Acting for a video game studio in a dispute concerning the development of a fantasy action role-playing game for Windows, Xbox One and PS4.
  • Acting for a major publisher in a dispute with a high-profile celebrity relating to the payment of advances under a book publishing contract and the impact of the celebrity not attending a schedule of agreed PR events in the run up to the launch of the hardback version of his biography.
  • Advising Sir Cliff Richard in relation to the now closed South Yorkshire Police investigation.
  • Instructed by the respondent in on notice proceedings for an injunction in a dispute concerning distribution rights to a season of the television series The Walking Dead.
  • Acting in the well-known Ingenious Litigation, in which claims were brought by over 500 individuals in relation to a failed film finance tax scheme. The six-month trial – identified by The Lawyer as one of its cases of the year – settled just before it was due to start.
  • Defending Rebekah Brooks in the nine month “phone hacking” trial at the Old Bailey, resulting in her acquittal on all charges.
  • Acting in wrongful dismissal proceedings between an orchestra and its former conductor.
  • Acting for the defendants in a dispute concerning royalties in relation to the song In the Summertime by Mungo Jerry.
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Media & Entertainment Barristers

Bankim Thanki QC

Bankim Thanki KC

Call 1988 | Silk 2003

Richard Coleman QC

Richard Coleman KC

Call 1994 | Silk 2012

Clare Sibson KC

Call 1997 | Silk 2016

John Mehrzad KC

Call 2005 | Silk 2020

Laura John QC

Laura John KC

Call 2001 | Silk 2021

Deepak Nambisan

Call 1998

Niamh Cleary

Niamh Cleary

Call 2012

Francesca Ruddy

Call 2020

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Contact our clerks

For more information on our experience or to discuss a particular case, please contact us.

Call:    +44 (0)207 583 3335
Email: clerks@fountaincourt.co.uk

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Read more

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