Dr. Thomas Hieber

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  • Copyright and Media law
  • Music law
  • Film law
  • Design law
  • Trademark law
  • Competition law
  • Contract drafting and negotiation

 

Contact
phone +49 89 544 796 0
fax +49 89 544 796 66
e-mail: info@ke-recht.de

Bavariaring 26 · 80336 Munich / Germany

 

Attorney Dr. Thomas Hieber

Specialization and services

Thomas Hieber consults in all areas of media and copyright law as well as in trademark law and insolvency law with a focus on music law, film law and event law. He is particularly expert in supporting music and film producers from production to distribution (e.g. drafting and negotiation of artist contracts, contracts with presenters, producers, music publishers, music labels, broadcasters, on-demand platforms, cinema distributors, etc.) and specialized in the law of collecting societies and the clearing of rights for film productions.

Career

  • Studies and doctorate at the University of Passau
  • Legal clerkship (Referendariat) at OLG Hamburg with internships at TELDEC Classics International and IMC – International Music Council, Paris, among others
  • 2001-2006 Legal Counsel at KirchMedia
  • Since 2002 working as an Attorney-at-law/Rechtsanwalt
  • 2005 Course “Fachanwalt für Insolvenzrecht” (specialist lawyer for insolvency law)
  • 2006-2019 Head of Business and Legal Affairs at UNITEL
  • Since 2012: Lecturer in music law as part of the course “Fachanwalt für Urheber- und Medienrecht” (specialist lawyer for copyright and media law) of the Institute for
  • Copyright and Media Law in Munich
  • Legal Advisor of the International Music Council (IMC)
  • Lectureship at Augsburg University - Leopold Mozart Centre
  • Member of the Committee on Law (Bundesfachausschuss Recht) of the German Music Concil (Deutscher Musikrat)

As Legal Counsel at KirchMedia, Thomas Hieber was involved in all areas of film law and was responsible for music law within the Kirch Group. During the insolvency phase of KirchMedia, Thomas Hieber worked closely with the insolvency administrator and completed the course to become a specialist lawyer for insolvency law.

During his time as Head of Business and Legal Affairs at UNITEL, a film production company specialised in classical music, Thomas Hieber was responsible for negotiating and drafting all contracts, defending rights and organising and managing the trademark portfolio. In addition, as a producer he was responsible for numerous audiovisual opera and concert recordings in Germany and abroad, in particular in Italy and Spain (e.g. the complete opera cycles “Mozart 22″ and “Tutto Verdi”). From 2010 to 2019 Thomas Hieber was a member of the Executive Board of IMZ International Music + Media Center, Vienna.

Due to his activities Thomas Hieber has a profound knowledge of the concert and opera business as well as detailed knowledge of the music business and of the film, TV and online business.

Thomas Hieber plays piano, violin and viola, conducted several orchestras and composed for stage, concert hall and film. He is manager of the Patentorchester München.

Languages

  • German, English, Italian

Memberships

  • GRUR (Deutsche Vereinigung für gewerblichen Rechtsschutz und Urheberrecht)
  • DIJV (Deutsch-Italienische Juristenvereinigung)

Publications and lectures

Publications:

  • “Metall auf Metall” – but an end without horror? – Note to CJEU, 29.7.2019 – C 476/17, Pelham vs. Hütter (ZUM 2019, 738)
  • The US-American “Music Modernization Act” – “The Most Important Piece of Legislation in a Generation”? (ZUM 2019, 161 ff.)
  • License Agreements on Technical Property Rights, Trademarks and Copyrights under the 6th Amendment of the German Restriction of Competition Act (GWB) (Dissertation 2001)
  • For the copyright protection of the theatre director – the staging as a personal intellectual creation (ZUM 1997, 17 ff.)
  • The legitimacy of experiments on patented inventions under Sec. 11 No. 2 PatG 1981 (GRUR 1996, 439 ff.)
  • Periodical publications on the subject of Law of Assembly in “Ordnungsamtspraxis” (WEKA-Verlag)

Selected lectures:

  • Copyrights in Music Films – Curse or Blessing?, Panel at the Forum for Films about Music “The Look of Sound”, 9 April 2019, Popakademie Mannheim
  • Copyrights for Music + Dance on Film, IMZ Avant Première, 13 February 2019
  • Copyright & Audio Visual Media – How to Avoid Expensive Mistakes, IMZ Avant Première, 11 February 2014
  • The Copyright Contract, FORUM Institute of Management, 7 December 2012