Culture, Media and Sport

Gadens has long-standing experience and passion in supporting clients in the arts, media, entertainment and sports sectors. Our work spans from the physical – major venues and entertainment precincts – to the abstract – content creation, protection and distribution – and everything in between, servicing the broad creative and cultural industries.

Offering specialist, expert advice across the arts and culture, entertainment and sporting sectors, Gadens is recognised as a trusted advisor to numerous high profile athletes, major art galleries, sporting bodies, film, television and media production companies, event organisers and major entertainment venues across Australia.

Our support extends beyond providing legal services. For many years we have provided philanthropic support of film, music, arts and writers’ festivals and enjoyed enduring partnerships with cultural institutions such as the Gallery of Modern Art and the Museum of Brisbane. The arts truly form part of the firm’s DNA, so it is no surprise that our lawyers bring genuine passion to their work in this area.

Media and entertainment

Australia is a great place for making films and television programs – attractive financial support, outstanding locations, first-class technical facilities, experienced crews and economic stability. Australian creative and technical talent is highly regarded internationally, facilitating desirable production partnerships.

Our Media and Entertainment Team leverages our industry knowledge with diverse strengths in corporate, finance, intellectual property, tax and litigation to assist established and emerging clients across film, television, publishing, visual effects, animation and gaming. Our lawyers have acted for producers, content providers, distributors, broadcasters, new media companies, creatives and talent, and have experience advising on all aspects of media and entertainment, including:

• Structuring and financing
• Acquisition and sale of media businesses, including television, radio and subscription interests
• Production-related agreements
• Licensing and regulation, including broadcast licensing
• Production incentives, including tax offsets (rebates) for large budget offshore productions, post, digital and visual effects production, Australian productions and official co-productions
• Content and format licensing and distribution, clearances and rights management
• Corporate transactions
• Major venue development and management
• Mergers and acquisitions
• Related intellectual property and competition law issues.

Sports

As a sports-obsessed nation, Australia is at the cutting edge of both the high-performance aspect of sports and the commercial exploitation of sports assets. Gadens’ Sports Team includes lawyers with experience in all aspects of sports-related matters, including:

• Advising on major national and international events conducted in Australia
• Advising major venue owners and operators on infrastructure, planning, regulatory, operational and event matters, including the owners of major stadiums, athletic and aquatic facilities and entertainment facilities
• Acting for various sports governing bodies
• Representing corporate interests in relation to their participation in a variety of sports and arts-related events or properties, including major stadium and event-naming rights
• Sponsorship, licensing, merchandising and intellectual property advice around events and properties, including advising on ambush marketing
• Concessions, ticketing, safety, promotions and advertising
• Broadcasting rights
• New media, technologies and digital platforms
• Acting for professional teams, athletes and managers.

Major venues

Gadens represents owners, managers and developers of some of our largest sporting and cultural venues, including major government facilities and the owners of some of Australia’s best known stadiums. Our team includes lawyers with experience in all aspects of venue development and management, including:

• Infrastructure, planning, construction, regulatory and operational matters, including developing existing facilities and planning new precincts
• Major events and exhibitions
• Stadium naming rights
• Concessions, ticketing, safety, promotions and advertising
• Financing.