Specialising in handling complex copyright infringement claims and managing IP portfolios, the ‘commercial and personable’ team at Burness Paull LLP is highly regarded by multinational media corporations and governing bodies in sports. Fraser MacKinven heads the practice, bringing expertise in assisting sports and media companies with M&A and joint ventures to the outfit. The ’astute’ Colin Hulme is hailed for his content protection and rights management knowledge, while Megan Briggs is praised for advising on copyright enforcement proceedings. Pauline McCulloch primarily focuses on advertising and product labelling matters, and Benjamin McGlinchey concentrates on commercial contract affairs from Edinburgh. All lawyers are based in Glasgow unless otherwise stated.
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘Colin Hulme is a very experienced and astute practitioner, providing valuable information on the cases in Scotland and helpful insights into the work in general.'
- 'Megan Briggs also is very helpful in liaising on the infringement cases.’
‘Very commercial and personable. I am not a client (but a friendly fellow IP lawyer in England) so cannot comment on billing etc. However, we refer work between ourselves as we are based in different jurisdictions and the team would be my go-to team of experts in Scotland.’
‘Colin Hulme is a great lawyer and great guy to have a beer with. Important qualities not easily found in lawyers. He is able to see the wood for the trees and get to the nub of the issue.’
Key clients
- STV Group plc
- Sky UK Limited
- ACF Sports Promotions Limited
- Two Rivers Media Limited
- BBC Scotland
- Hachette UK Limited
- PicRights
- Rockstar Games
- PPL PRS Limited
- Pixsy Inc
- International Cricket Council
- Scottish Football Association
- AG Barr PLC
Work highlights
- Advising PicRights UK Limited and PicRights Europe GmBH on enforcement of copyright in photographs on a bulk basis throughout the UK.
- Advising STV Studios, the TV production arm of STV, in its acquisition of Greenbird Media Limited.
- Advising Sky TV on its enforcement programme across Scotland, involving raising copyright infringement proceedings to prevent unauthorised broadcasts of Sky’s sporting events in licensed premises throughout Scotland.
Lawyers
Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Fraser MacKinven