Description:

Purpose/Job Description
This position sits within A Mass Media Company Content Legal team, providing expert legal advice to the business on a wide range of IP and content legal issues globally, reporting to the Head of Legal, Content. The successful candidate will provide business-oriented legal guidance for publishing, film and television, digital video, podcasts and other inbound licensing across the US and international markets, as well as supporting the IP and content aspects of transactions across the company, with a particular focus on audio-visual deals. The successful candidate will:

Assess and advise on legal risks relating to our content, including intellectual property rights, images rights, defamation and privacy, across the US and international markets.
Providing expert legal advice on AI matters, content clearance, music rights and SAG-AFTRA issues impacting our company.
Work with a broad range of departments, including Business Affairs, Production Management, Editorial, Rights & Clearances, Syndication, Risk & Insurance, and Legal and Policy colleagues, on content and business matters.
Support on the IP and content aspects of transactions, including:
Production-related agreements for entertainment content, covering film and television, as well as digital video and podcasts for editorial and commercial content.
Contributor agreements, talent agreements and releases, across text, photo, video and podcasts, for editorial and commercial content.
Commercial agreements for branded and custom content, events and partnerships.
Other transactions involving Commercial, Employment and Data and Technology legal teams.
The development and roll out of new agreement templates.
Acting largely autonomously, work directly with the business, providing objective analysis of risks and providing practical solutions to satisfy legal and business requirements.
Manage cross-border projects with ease, involving stakeholders, third parties, and legal experts from different markets to deliver cohesive and centralised legal support.
Identify ways to enhance and support internal processes, policies and procedures to support strategic goals, and actively contribute to Legal Ops improvements and efficiencies.
Assist with creation of materials for, and delivery of, frequent training sessions for production and editorial teams on copyright and trademarks, music rights, image rights and other content matters.
Work in a collaborative and proactive manner with other members of the global Legal and Policy Department to enhance the support provided by the legal team to the business and also in relation to promoting best practices and contributing to the overall performance of the Legal and Policy Department itself.
Manage one paralegal in the New York office, and potentially additional lawyers in the future.

Key Relationships:
Maintaining strong working relationships with:

In-house clients in the business and global departments (including Business Affairs and wider content teams, Sales, Tax, Insurance, IT, HR and Finance).
Colleagues in the Legal and Policy Department.
External advisers, particularly in the entertainment and audio-visual space.

Skills and Experience:

JD from an accredited law school and be a member in good standing of at least one state Bar.
Ideally 7-10+ years of relevant experience, preferably both in house and at a law firm. Flexible for the right candidate.
Experience working with or in a global or multi market media, production, entertainment or technology business, and facilitating agreements for production and distribution of audio-visual content.
Excellent and concise written/verbal communication, negotiation, drafting, analytical, interpersonal, organisational, problem-solving and time management skills.
Deep knowledge of, and experience with, copyright, trademark law, image and personality rights. Some knowledge of defamation, privacy and music rights.
Demonstrated leadership and project management skills.
Capable of building strong internal client relationships at all levels of the business, with the ability to effectively advise clients under conditions of uncertainty, high-pressure and/or high-risk
Relationships with external colleagues including outside counsel and talent agents.
Ability to work independently, seeking guidance when necessary.
Demonstrated ability to anticipate needs and take initiative without explicit direction.
A track record of taking ownership of projects and seeing them through to completion with enthusiasm and determination.
Decisive and highly-responsive, with the ability to deliver practical business-oriented results and scalable processes.
Positive “can do” attitude and willingness to work flexibly and as part of a new and evolving team that is itself operating in a business and sector going through change.
Experience managing direct reports is preferred, but not required.