Netflix is the world's leading streaming entertainment service with 208 million paid memberships in over 190 countries enjoying TV series, documentaries, and feature films across a wide variety of genres and languages. Members can watch as much as they want, anytime, anywhere, on any internet-connected screen. Members can play, pause and resume watching, all without commercials or commitments.

The Opportunity

As we scale our original content in Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), and the UK, our IP team is in search of a Contract Intellectual Property Counsel to advise film and television productions and executives on all matters related to intellectual property issues across the region. These include chain of title research, title clearance, production clearance, IP enforcement, claim defense, and negotiating license agreements as well as defamation, life/personality rights, and legal issues relating to sensitive content. In general, it’s easiest to think of our team as managing the strategies for legal risk in what appears on screen in our content.  This role will closely collaborate with the creative, business, and legal teams that create Netflix’s great content.

The role is a contract position that will primarily support our English language content and will be based in our London office.

Candidate Profile

As Contract IP Counsel, your intellectual property experience enables you to work across any situation that may be encountered related to a production. You aren’t phased by the last-minute surprises that inevitably arise when shooting a film, series, or documentary. You can navigate those situations while allowing your studio colleagues to fulfill their creative and business goals. You understand the dynamics among showrunners, executive producers, line producers, production departments, marketing and creative, and know when and how to align the appropriate teams when an IP issue arises. You have experience evaluating risk with imperfect information and have the confidence to make quick decisions. Your expert eye for detail and exceptional organizational talents means that you are able to improve upon systems to gain efficiency. You are passionate about the entertainment industry and are excited to learn more about the business from a non-traditional perspective.   This is an opportunity to help shape the future of entertainment. The successful candidate will love working in an environment where freedom and responsibility are tenets, and passion, innovation, and curiosity are mandates. That candidate will also thrive in an environment that values thoughtful efficiency over process 

This contract role will report to the Director - Intellectual Property EMEA based in London. Travel throughout Europe and occasional travel to the US will be required (when it is safe to travel again).

Requirements

• Experience working as an IP lawyer in a content or entertainment-related field (including sports, advertising, tech, gaming, production, music, theatre, broadcaster, or law firm specializing in those industries).
• Though not required, production clearance experience in film and/or television is a plus. This includes managing production personnel, script researchers, and outside vendors, and negotiating and drafting license agreements for a wide variety of production materials.
• Knowledge of the IP legal space in the UK and EMEA, including awareness of, or relationships with fantastic external counsel and vendors.
• Deep understanding of media, personality rights, and IP law in the EU and UK, including copyright, moral rights, trademarks, fair dealing, privacy, defamation, and freedom of speech.  Additional experience of working on IP matters in any other EMEA country is a plus.
• Experience managing and resolving IP disputes, including claims of IP infringement, infringement of personality rights, or other contentious matters related to media and entertainment.
• Experience with complex copyright transactions and/or chain of title review and analysis.
• Experience managing heavy workflow independently.
• Demonstrated curiosity about how different backgrounds and cultures affect us at work, and a commitment to acknowledge and work past implicit biases that we all have.
• Outstanding communication skills and a bias toward creative thinking.
• Ability to work proactively, independently, and reliably on multiple projects under tight timeframes in a fast-paced environment interacting with productions, cross-functional departments, and vendors. 
• Highly collaborative and responds positively to change and new ideas.
• Curious and eager to tackle legal IP matters outside your current area of expertise.

Responsibilities

• Identify IP-related risks in our content and communicate them to the necessary stakeholders, including trademark, copyright, defamation, or similar content risks.
• Collaborate with business and legal affairs teams to acquire and develop IP, then shepherd it through production and distribution of content.
• Conduct chain of title review and provide concise and pragmatic analysis.
• Work with our global trademark team to help analyze trademark clearances, including multi-jurisdiction searches. 
• Work with our global brand enforcement team to help enforce against infringements of Netflix’s IP as needed. Manage intellectual property claims in a pre-litigation context, collaborate with our litigation team on IP litigation matters in EMEA.   
• Implement production clearance strategies for EMEA content.
• Conduct due diligence on complex rights acquisitions.
• Negotiate and draft license agreements for a wide variety of production materials.
• Rapidly respond to production clearance issues. 

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced IP counsel. The initial contract duration for this contract role is 12 months. We will engage you on a PAYE basis via one of our trusted partners in the UK.