GCs, dealmakers, risk managers and litigators, take note: as digital content continues to gain value and influence among consumers and businesses, well-crafted distribution licenses remain essential to ensuring successful – and harmonious - collaborations between technology and media companies.  Friction often results, however, when counsel on opposing sides of these fundamentally different industries are unequipped to reconcile their distinct goals, focus and risk profiles.

What GCs Need to Know

As Thomas Vidal, a partner in Pryor Cashman’s Technology, Litigation and Media + Entertainment Groups, recently wrote in Inside Counsel, “general counsel of media companies must devote a far greater amount of attention to understanding the actual business model of their technology-business counterparts and vice-versa.” 

In his article, “Finding Common Ground At the Intersection of Technology and Entertainment” – the first in a series for the publication – Vidal offers insight on how, in spite of these conflicts, stakeholders can negotiate distribution deals that offer maximum value while effectively mitigating risk.

Key in overcoming these friction points, he explains, is for all parties to have a clear understanding of each other’s business models, and a solid grasp of how their businesses intersect. With this knowledge in hand, stakeholders from both sides can readily identify risks and opportunities, allowing them to structure optimal deals.

Assessing Common Obstacles

Specifically, Vidal examines three issues routinely encountered by counsel when negotiating digital distribution agreements: exclusivity vs. non-exclusivity; downside for the media company where the tech platform seeks a most favored nations clause; and the impact of anti-injunction clauses on content distribution and cash flow.

The full article can be read here.

More About Vidal’s Practice

Thomas Vidal represents a diverse roster of clients including media companies, software developers, entrepreneurs, film distributors, VOD platforms, recording artists, and motion picture production companies, among many others.  He writes frequently on the interplay between media, technology and litigation.