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This debut edition includes some brief updates on important changes affecting the industry, and some spotlight articles that delve deeper into M&A activity in the industry as well as the impact of the government’s new Employment Rights Bill.
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Partner Ed Lane and managing associate Clare McGarry attended the Broadcast Summit on 2 April.
Their key takeaways were as follows:
We continue our partnership with Indielab in 2025 and will be hosting the Indielab TV Accelerator throughout April, May and June. This three-month programme is designed to help individuals develop the skills and networks needed to take their indie to the next level across the evolving TV and content ecosystems. It also offers the chance to collaborate with new industry partners, and gain insights from experts in the field.
On Friday 28 March, we had our first session with the talented new BAFTA Elevate cohort. Partner Sarah Lazarides and managing associate Clare McGarry focused on how producers and directors should look to protect their IP and secure their position, particularly when entering into co-productions. In the coming months, more of our lawyers will provide tailored sessions designed to share essential industry knowledge and expertise.
A pretty punchy report from the House of Commons CMS Committee was released on 10 April which contains recommendations which, if implemented, have the potential to transform upend the industry. The stated aim: to protect and reshape the UK indies market.
Here are some highlights:
Pact and Equity are continuing to meet and progress discussions. In the meantime, interim fee increases have been approved across both the Cinema Films Agreement and TV Agreement for 2025.
From 1 April 2025, the new UK Independent Film Tax Credit which forms part of the AVEC became officially available – it has a net rate of 39.75% (overall equating to 29.25%) and it applies to films with budgets up to £15m and which began principal photography on or after 1 April 2024.
In February, Equity published an open letter to the industry on AI training. This was a call to arms to industry stakeholders stressing the need for an urgent conversation to ensure that any exploitation of rights-protected content in the context of AI is carried out with recognition of performers’ property rights and applicable data protection laws.
The letter provides some background on the current issues (specifically that most AI models being used have been trained on vast quantities of (often rights-protected) materials, which have been scraped from online sources without consent from or compensation for creators and performers) before going on to summarise its interpretation of the legal position on performers’ rights under the Copyright Designs and Patents Act and data protection rights under the GDPR. Whilst the legal analysis produced by the union is open to debate in certain areas, Equity has flagged in its letter that it considers the current activities of AI companies to constitute a breach of existing IP rights. Where performers’ rights are breached, Equity has said it will robustly defend members, including via the courts if necessary. It is worth noting that the government is running a consultation on whether to update IP laws to allow for the commercial data mining of protected works by AI companies, which would circumvent some of the issues raised by Equity in this letter. The government’s request for the public to feed into its consultation has now closed and we are eagerly awaiting the outcome.
Pact is seeking feedback from its members before planning to respond to Equity.
In January, the BBC established a new editorial guidance policy for generative AI in its content creation. The guidelines emphasise three core principles: (i) acting in the best interests of the public; (ii) prioritising talent and creatives; and (iii) being open and transparent with audiences about the use of technology.
The BBC has emphasised that, subject to certain exceptions (such as where AI is the subject of the content and its use is illustrative), generative AI must not be used to directly generate news content or factual journalism, as a key aim is to build audience trust and to prevent dissemination of biased, false or misleading information.
The BBC has experimented with the technology through various pilots which has led
to AI being used to generate subtitles and live text pages, and for translation
purposes.
The government has introduced a new Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) scheme, which is a security measure for visa-exempt travel similar to the US ESTA. This may be relevant for overseas individuals travelling to the UK for a production. The ETA is aimed at strengthening border security and streamlining entry procedures for visitors.
As of 8 January 2025, citizens of 49 countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia and Japan, must obtain an ETA before travelling to the UK. European Union nationals will need an ETA starting from 2 April 2025.
Travellers can apply for an ETA through the UK ETA app or online. The application requires personal details, travel information and a valid passport. The decisions are usually made within three working days.
The ETA costs £10 and is valid for multiple entries to the UK over a two-year period or until the relevant individual’s passport expires, whichever is sooner.
It should be noted that the ETA is not a visa and does not grant the right to enter the UK; it merely authorises travel to the UK. Upon arrival, travellers will still need to meet the entry requirements set by UK Border Force officers. For the most current information and to apply for an ETA, please refer to the government’s guidance here.
In a recent case in the UK, the High Court considered the extent to which TV formats can be protected by copyright. Comedian Joshua Rinkoff created a comedy show “Shambles” which involved a live comedy night, combining short clips of stand-up comedy with behind-the-scenes narrative in the form of a sitcom. Rinkoff claimed that the Baby Cow Productions’ series “Live at the Moth Club” copied this format.
In considering whether a format can be protected as a dramatic work, the judge cited the fact that there were at least two conditions which must be met. First, there must be a number of clearly identified features which, taken together, distinguish the show from others of a similar type. Secondly, those distinguishing features must be connected with each other in a coherent framework which can be repeatedly applied so as to enable the show to be reproduced in recognisable form.
The High Court dismissed the claim for copyright infringement finding that: (a) there was no copyright in the series; and (b) even if there were, there was no infringement. The case highlights the challenges of claiming copyright protection for a format, which to date, has not been found to subsist in a TV format in this jurisdiction. It is a reminder of one of the fundamental principles of copyright law in England and Wales, in that it protects the expression of an idea, but not the idea itself, and the importance of clearly defining and documenting unique elements to establish protectable works.
Film and high-end TV production in the UK is officially bouncing back from its slowdown in 2023, felt during and immediately following the Hollywood writers’ and actors’ strikes. According to the British Film Institute, which compiles the official data, the total spend on film and TV production last year (based on the year in which principal photography started) reached £5.6 billion ($6.9 billion), which represents a 31% increase from 2023 when £4.23 billion ($5.37 billion) was spent.
Wicked was the highest-grossing release in the UK in 2024, with box office sales of £59.6 million. 65% of total UK production spend on film was accounted for by productions from the five major U.S. studios and the three major US streaming platforms (Netflix, Apple and Amazon), also representing a 49% increase in spend in 2024 versus 2023. A few of the films which were shot by these studios and streamers in the UK last year include The Running Man, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, How to Train Your Dragon, Project Hail Mary, and Jurassic World Rebirth.
But whilst the studio landscape is coming back strong, the picture is mixed for Indies. Pact released a major report into the state and future of the indies TV sector, outlining shrinking production company numbers, a loss of talent and threats to “niche” genres such as specialist factual – times are tough and much of the industry is still feeling it.
Written by partner Ed Lane.
M&A activity had, in the past 12 months or so, been confined to the bulge bracket – witness the mega merger between Skydance Media and Paramount and the sale by Warner Bros. Discovery and Liberty Global of All3Media to Redbird IMI. Deals at the lower end of the market have been harder to come by – until recently, that is. In the past few months, we’ve seen Mediawan take a majority stake in Slow Horses and indie See-Saw and ITV Studios pick up majority stakes in indies Eagle Eye and Moonage Pictures.
We have also seen a raft of so-called ‘start-up deals’, where investors back talent in a new venture, including BBC Studios’ backing of Samphire Films.
At a more macro level, further consolidation amongst the larger media players and streamers is expected as consumers tire of a deluge of content – Disney recently announced it was merging Hulu + Live TV with competitor Fubo TV. Heavyweights such as Comcast/NBCUniversal and Warner Bros. Discovery are expected to separate out and look for options in relation to their cable network division.
That being said, the macro-economic conditions – primarily interest rates – are not looking as auspicious as they were at the start of the year. Interest rates had been expected to come down reasonably quickly as the global economy got back to business after the Covid-19 pandemic and related supply shock, and prior to this, they had been on a steady downward trend. However, President Trump’s economic policies, in particular the imposition of wide-ranging tariffs, may halt that return to normality.
The Employment Rights Bill, described by the government as “the biggest upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation”, has been making progress through parliament over the last few months. Senior associate Lucy Burrows delves into the latest round of amendments to the Bill and how they provided further insight into what lies ahead for the film and TV industry.
Read the full article here.
He has a particular interest and expertise in the creative industries, including film and TV, video games and music, and in the broader media, entertainment and technology sectors.
His practice spans mergers and acquisitions, fundraises from pre-seed to series A and beyond, startups, growth equity investments, public takeovers, joint ventures, management incentive arrangements, including EMI options, and SEIS/EIS investments. He is actively involved as a speaker and mentor for a number of different industry accelerators and trade bodies, including Indielab, BAFTA and UKIE.
Ed trained and qualified at Linklaters, where he spent five and a half years in the private equity M&A team acting for a variety of private equity houses and businesses on leveraged and non-leveraged buy-outs, growth equity investments, exits, management incentive arrangements and bolt-on acquisitions.
Ed is ranked as a key lawyer in The Legal 500 UK guide, and is noted for his “sector expertise”, “encyclopaedic memory” and his willingness to “go the extra mile to get the best deal.”
Clare advises on a broad range of commercial and IP matters across the film, TV and theatre industries, including the development, production, financing and distribution of film, TV and theatre projects and the acquisition, protection and exploitation of rights/IP and content.
Clare works with clients of all sizes and types within the film, TV and theatre sectors, from individual producers, talent and small independent production companies, to major SVODs, high profile production companies, studios, and content financiers. Clare also specialises in advising rightsholders who wish to protect and exploit their IP and rights. Clare works across all genres of film and television, including scripted, unscripted and animation, as well as newer areas such as digital exploitation, branded content and the convergence between traditional TV and content creators.
Clare is described in listed as a ‘Key Lawyer’ and described as ‘a key contact for independent producers and rights holders’ and ‘a pleasure to work with. Fantastic attention to detail and very responsive to client requests. Runs matters efficiently and inspires confidence in her clients’. Clare has also been ranked as a ‘Rising Star’.
Clare presents at numerous industry events, including BAFTA Elevate and Indielab and regularly runs legal sessions for Pact members.
Recent news articles and thought leadership