Information Technologies and Media

Soulier Avocats regularly assists and defends French and foreign companies operating in the IT and media industries.

Information Technology

With the advent of a true information society, companies around the world face new challenges connected, in particular, to the growing digitalization of exchanges, the never-ending technological innovation and the ever-increasing significance of digital contents in business life.

Soulier Avocats has developed a specific expertise on all legal matters brought about by these evolutions and we counsel and defend our French and foreign clients on IT issues and, more generally, on any and all new technology related issues.

With respect to computer technology, we assist both vendors (including software developers, suppliers of solutions, computer and engineering services companies, Web agencies, etc.) and private and institutional end-user clients in implementing their computer technology projects, including, but not limited to, the negotiation and preparation of computer hardware, software and software package agreements, purchase, licensing, development, service and integration contracts as well as  framework agreements for the supply of services, the enforcement of contractual warranties, product interoperability and interconnection requirements, etc. We also provide legal assistance to the various technical intermediaries on all matters concerning regulations, liability and protection of rights and titles.

With respect to e-commerce, we advise French and foreign groups and companies on the creation, implementation and development of their own e-commerce site. In a complex and challenging legal and regulatory environment, we strive to provide our clients with increased legal certainty in the performance of their business activities, in particular given the existing obligations concerning consumer protection, information and respect. As such, we are regularly asked to review and/or prepare general terms of sale, general conditions of use and mandatory information required by law, taking into account the specificities of each market segment and the nature of the e-commerce site in question (B2B or B2C). We counsel business clients on all issues associated with sales promotional activities, obligations applicable with respect to distance selling contracts, liability and protection of personal data collected from site users (reporting requirements, processing and use of the data, data breaches, etc.).

Finally, we counsel a diversified French and foreign clientele comprising mainly Internet service providers and operators, content publishers, companies of all sizes operating in a wide range of industries, public institutions and professional bodies on all traditional and newest cross-disciplinary issues specific to the Internet, in both their domestic and international dimensions. As such, our lawyers assist and defend corporate clients in intellectual property (trademarks, copyrights and related rights, domain names, etc.), criminal law (computer and IT crimes, privacy breaches, press offenses), labor & employment (Internet and IT usage policies, GPS tracking and cyber-surveillance of employees, etc.), business law (sales, distribution, etc.), competition & antitrust, contract law (e-commerce, general terms of sale, general conditions of use, etc.) consumer (consumer protection, obligation to provide information, legal and regulatory requirements applicable with respect to advertisement and promotion of products, etc.) and privacy (collection, processing, use and transfer of personal data, confidentiality, right of access and rectification, etc.).

Media

The fast development of new technologies and the digitalization of contents have revolutionized the audiovisual, motion picture, publishing, press, music creation/production and video game industries. In the face of such developments, new challenges have emerged that require innovative and focused solutions.

Fully aware of each step of the value chain, our lawyers mainly advise French and foreign content creators, producers, publishers and broadcasters, telecommunications companies, media groups and TV operators on a wide range of legal issues, including but not limited to, domestic and cross-border corporate transactions, the preparation, negotiation and optimization of contractual arrangements, the financing, set up and implementation of strategic projects, the protection of work products, contents and intangible assets, the preservation of IP rights, the collection, processing and use of personal data, personality rights, antitrust practices, compliance with applicable legal and regulatory requirements and the relationships with competent regulatory authorities.

We also represent and defend our clients operating in the media and entertainment industry before civil, commercial, criminal and administrative courts.