Press and publishing houses
SKW Schwarz works for fiction, non-fiction, academic, newspaper and magazine publishers on issues of publishing, copyright and competition law as well as of press law issues (right of free speech versus privacy rights).
We draft publisher, author, illustrator, photographer, translator and editor contracts and represent publishers in disputes with competitors, authors, editors, translators, illustrators and graphic designers. We also advise academic publishers on cooperation, development and magazine contracts. Concerning the right of free speech we advise companies (not least in connection with critical press releases) and private individuals and conduct disputes on press and privacy rights issues, including obtaining or averting preliminary injunctions, corrections etc.
Our lawyers do not only write and negotiate contracts, they also represent our clients in court. We regularly conduct press and publisher proceedings on behalf of our clients. Thanks to our years of experience we can usually guess the optimal strategy for each case.
SKW Schwarz’s expertise in IT, internet and e-business law enables us to give competent advice to popular and academic publishers about recent developments such as electronic publications, mixed forms between print and electronic products (for example non-fiction books), e-books etc. Our experience with the film and TV business is helpful publishers and authors if a book is to be turned into a movie.
In cooperation with Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels SKW Schwarz has created standard contracts for publishers. These have been published in the German-language standard work “Recht im Verlag” (Wegner/Wallenfels/Kaboth: Recht im Verlag, Verlag C.H. Beck), to which two of our lawyers have contributed as editors and authors.
In 2007 SKW Schwarz received the JUVE award as “Law Firm of the Year” for press and publishing law.
Examples
E-books and the digitalisation of published content looks set to become an attractive area of business in the future. We have helped several publishers to establish their e-publishing and internet activities. Numerous legal questions have to be resolved in this area, for example concerning the rights of authors, illustrators and other copyright holders, concerning distribution and concerning the pursuit of book piracy. If the publishers want to create discussion forums or give users the possibility to place user generated content on internet platforms they may incur liability risks, which have to be minimised by an adequate technical set-up and legal structure.
Strategic decisions may be the key to success in litigation. Whether in copyright proceedings (for example the disputes of many publishers with translators about the latter’s remuneration), in proceedings about the right of free speech and alleged infringements of privacy rights or in title and brand proceedings – lawyers will have to rely on their experience and creativity at critical stages of the procedure. Imminent preliminary injunctions may be averted in time by proactive tactical measures. For example, we represented a publisher against a translator who demanded additional remuneration on the basis of the amended copyright law. We won the litigation in front of the Higher Regional Court (Oberlandesgericht) Munich even though other publishers lost almost all parallel cases on the grounds of the amended law. In proceedings concerning the right of free speech we have often succeeded in preventing or delaying an imminent distribution stop for a book.
Transactions and company participations are a matter of trust. During the past few years we have represented different publishing house owners in negotiations about participations in or purchases and sales of a publishing house or the formation of joint ventures. Our clients often asked us to provide not only legal support, but also help in selecting potential partners or in starting and conducting negotiations with interested parties. Our sector know-how enables us to quickly and reliably recognise legal risks of the target company and provide adequate hedging.
Publishing houses and film producers have interests that complement each other: The publishing houses want to have their books turned into movies and the producers are looking for interesting plots. Since we know both sides, we can offer optimal advice. In one case the publisher did not own certain utilisation rights which the film producer needed to have in order to be able to market the film adequately. The legal situation was quite complicated, with several heirs of the author and third-party publishers (which also desired the rights in question) involved. Nevertheless intensive research, skilled negotiating and quick action enabled us to secure the rights for the publisher so that the movie could be filmed.