Practices - BAE, KIM & LEE LLC

Overview

BKL’s Entertainment, Sports & Game Practice Group is comprised of industry experts with extensive experience and knowledge of the industry, and provides comprehensive advice and services on all aspects of the clients’ day-to-day business needs in this highly competitive and global industry.

Legal Advisor to Leaders in the Entertainment and Sports Industry

Entertainment business is a field where intangible assets, such as brand value, need be monetized to the fullest extent. Based on aggressive investments and high-quality local content production capabilities, K-Contents, fueled by the Hanryu phenomenon, has become an integral part of the global entertainment business and, as a result, Korea is fast becoming one of the rising centers for global content production, especially, in the areas of TV drama series, feature films and music. BKL has abundant experience and expertise in both Korea-bound and overseas-bound projects relating to acquisition, production and distribution of contents involving the latest IT technology and media, and our work in this area includes advising our clients through all stages of their projects, from financing, formation, distribution, business operations, M&As, establishing joint ventures, and securing content rights.

BKL has unparalleled experience in the field of sports as we have served as the legal advisor for major international sporting events, including the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games, the 2002 FIFA World Cup, and the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games. In more recent years, our practice in this area has expanded into e-Sports, which is one of the fastest growing sectors within the sports/gaming industry.

Customized Legal Service Based on Extensive Experience in Video Gaming Industry

The gaming industry is an area where creative ideas converge with the latest IT technology, storytelling and artistic The gaming industry is an area where creative ideas converge with the latest IT technology, storytelling and artistic expressions, and such unique characteristic of the industry entails legal implications in relation to the use of intellectual property rights, gaming regulations and user data protection including personal data protection. Our Entertainment, Sports & Game Group is comprised of industry experts with in-depth knowledge of the industry, who work together seamlessly to advise global gaming companies on all aspects of their day-to-day legal issues relevant to the gaming industry, including industry-specific regulations, business operations, game publishing and licensing, and game user data protection.

Key Services

Entertainment and Sports

Advise on content financing and game publishing and licensing

Advise on M&A transactions, setting up of joint ventures, cross-border content distribution and related issues

Advise on regulatory issues relating to feature films, music and other aspects of the entertainment industry, and advise on other regulatory and contentious matters involving game rating and regulations

Advise on investment and production of feature films and TV series

Advise on regulatory requirements for OTT/SVOD business operators in relation to content provision and service

Advise on engagement of talents and models and other entertainers

Games

Advise on disputes involving intellectual property rights in games

Advise on game regulations, including game ratings

Advise on game publishing and licensing

Advise overseas-based game service providers in connection with local game service launches

Advise on protection of game user data and compliance, including personal data protection

Advise on M&A transactions and general corporate matters for gaming companies

Practice Areas

Representative Cases

Represented a leading Korean entertainment company in disputes involving artist agreements and led the litigation

Acted as the legal advisor to the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games Organizing Committee

Acted as counsel in the litigation involving a well-known board game in relation to copyright infringement and unfair competition

Representative Cases: Entertainment & Sports

Advised Big Hit Entertainment on its IPO and issuance of regulatory permits for content sales overseas

Advised Lotte Culture Works in connection with film and drama production, including x-documentation of related contracts

Represented TV drama production companies in a litigation involving dispute over content production and distribution

Advised on SM Entertainment’s joint venture with Hyumello

Advise Netflix on music licensing

Represented a leading Korean entertainment company in disputes involving artist agreements and led the litigation

Acted as the legal advisor to the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games Organizing Committee

Advise a global SVOD platform in connection with local production of original TV drama series

Gaming

Acted as counsel in the litigation involving a well-known board game in relation to copyright infringement and unfair competition

Acted as litigation counsel in relation to copyright infringement and unfair competition involving Match3 games

Acted as litigation counsel in an MMORPG game lawsuit seeking civil damages on grounds of infringement of joint copyright ownership

Advised a leading AOS-genre game service provider in connection with launch of a new service and operation of an e-Sports league

Advised the Korea Association of Game Industry in connection with KFTC’s guidance on loot box items and amendments to the enforcement decree relating to web board games

Acted as the legal advisor to the Fair e-Sports Commission

Acted as litigation counsel for a casual game company in a lawsuit challenging a business suspension order

Advised global video game companies based in the U.S. and China in relation to their game service launches in Korea