Communications and Media

Domestic and foreign media and telecoms-related companies turn to us for advice on traditional regulatory matters as well as emerging issues such as: Internet piracy; the regulation of machine-to-machine services and the Internet of things; copyright matters with respect to cloud-based media services; the regulation of virtual Internet-based content aggregators and distributors; and next-generation satellite services.  

We carefully craft transactions to comply with foreign ownership restrictions, spectrum licensing requirements, policy proceedings affecting competition, and municipal and support structure access issues. Our mandates demand a global mindset – we are often called to advise on the intersection between competition law and sectoral regulation, and the reform of broadcasting and telecommunications regimes, both domestically and abroad.  

Our lawyers appear before the Federal Court, the Federal Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court, and have represented our clients at International Tribunals. We represent clients on disputes about matters related to the Internet, broadcasting and telecommunications. Such disputes include appeals from decisions of the CRTC; disputes between providers of Internet, broadcasting or telecommunications services and their customers; mass copyright infringement proceedings; handling failed joint ventures; problems arising from the insolvency of industry players; and business disputes arising in the context of these industries. Our dispute resolution group works closely with our regulatory group to achieve creative solutions that use litigation and arbitration as tools to meet the client’s wider objectives. Often our regulatory lawyers and litigators steeped in these industries provide risk assessment advice so that our clients can proceed with innovative business plans, while recognizing potential pitfalls and working with the risks.