Legal 500 EMEA 2012
"‘A very accessible firm, which is informal but has very
experienced lawyers’, Kennedy Van der Laan is noted for its freedom
of press work. Jens van den Brink is ‘an outstanding lawyer in the
field of media law and defamation; very experienced and up to
date’. Machteld Robichon-Lindenkamp provides ‘know-how in media
cases and special knowledge of broadcasting matters’. Robinchon
acted for TV Oranje regarding alleged regulatory breaches by
broadcaster TROS, and the team successfully represented artist
Nadia Plesner in proceedings brought by Louis Vuitton."
Chambers Europe 2012
"This firm's technology team is one of the most highly
regarded in the Netherlands. It remains at the forefront of
developments, often working on cutting-edge projects. The lawyers
advised the Dutch national railway on a virtual network for
matching international train information, and also handled IT
contracts and software licensing agreements. On the media side, it
attracts work in both the print and online sectors, most notably
representing news blog GeenStijl and newspaper Spits in litigation.
It further handled contentious work for De Persgroep newspapers.
Its strength in the fields of free speech and defamation has
resulted in some interesting work, such as a case over broadcaster
VARA's right to use satire. The team upholds its reputation for
telecoms work, with clients including a major mobile operator and
various fixed telecoms providers."
Sources say:
"A strong, broad practice with reputable partners."
"Founding fathers of the IT scene."
Key individuals:
Jens van den Brink earns much praise for his work on defamation
and privacy matters. Clients pick out his up-to-date knowledge of
new and social media as a particular strength.
Hester De Vries remains one of the market's most highly
respected specialists for data protection and privacy work.
(Former)Managing partner Joost Linnemann is well regarded for his
work in IT, and specialises in e-commerce and complex technology
projects and transactions.
Patrick Wit works on the intersection between IT, media and
telecoms. A source comments: "He does a great job for his
clients."
Senior associate Reindert van der Zaal impressed sources with his
media work, which often has an IP flavour. Clients note his calm
demeanour and strong performance in court.
Media
Kennedy Van der Laan has a well-developed and varied media
practice. Our clients include Dutch and foreign television and
radio stations (both public and commercial), various
journalists' associations, television production companies,
other entertainment content providers (including mobile operators),
newspapers, publishers, internet media and internet providers.
Roughly speaking our media activities can be divided into:
- Press Law: Kennedy Van der Laan regularly acts on behalf of
clients in freedom of speech cases (both in court and before
the Council for Journalism) and in cases concerning the
Government Information Public Access Act.
- Issues that arise from the specific regulation of the media
market, in particular issues related to the Media Act and the
Media Decree, such as advice on the rules for public and
commercial broadcasters, including compliance with advertising
and sponsorship rules, allocation of frequencies (e.g. FM and
TETRA) and procedures for access to the public broadcasting
system and cable networks.
- Media-specific issues related to intellectual property
rights, including advice on the use of content on the internet
and the relevant boundaries of copyright, admissibility of
various types of hyperlinks, entertainment law issues such as
image and broadcasting rights, sponsorship contracts, rights
issues concerning program formats or the collection of dues by
rights organizations.
- Other internet-specific problems, including liability of
internet intermediaries and notice & takedown, on-line
advertisements, internet search engines, cyber crime, domain
name disputes.
- Issues in the field of advertising law: does an
advertisement meet the rules on misleading and comparative
advertising?
- Advice and litigation in the field of games of chance.
The media group also assists the media in, amongst other things,
more general contractual issues, with the purchase and use of
content and in the event of media-specific mergers, acquisitions
and joint ventures.
Telecommunications, media and internet are not separated
technologies anymore. The corresponding markets also show a
fast-growing overlap. Therefore, clients want to work with legal
advisors who are familiar with all sectors. The attorneys of
Kennedy Van der Laan meet this requirement and are able to give
innovative - but always practically applicable - legal advice on
the basis of their knowledge of the market and technologies.
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