Technology, Media & Telecommunications Law

Delivering tailor made strategies for clients who operate in the technology, media and telecommunications sectors requires ELIG Gürkaynak’s team of lawyers to be at the cutting-edge of technology, with a thorough understanding of existing and emerging mediums while also demonstrating a comprehensive knowledge of legal practice.

The team at ELIG Gürkaynak is highly committed to meeting the needs of our domestic and international clients by combining our expertise in legal practice and our specialization in unique practice areas such as online and mobile payment services, software development, hardware regulations, television and radio broadcasting, and regulatory compliance for telecommunication operators.

IT Law

ELIG Gürkaynak identifies the needs of its clients by taking into consideration their desire for innovation while respecting the legislative landscape. The team at ELIG Gürkaynak provides strategic legal assistance driven by our clients’ business models and goals.

We provide legal solutions for our clients in complex and multi-jurisdictional transactions, including:

• Drafting IT related agreements, including software and hardware related agreements, outsourcing agreements and licensing agreements.

• Analyzing workflow for possible legal issues with local legislation as well as possible intellectual property and trademark disputes and data protection irregularities.

• Analyzing regulatory compliance status of manufactured, imported and/or exported hardware and software, and providing guidance in order to ensure a steady stream of business and operations.

• Providing comparative analysis of local legislation, international treaties, directives and agreements in order to minimize legal risks and offer our clients a better understanding of the legal landscape as well as a legal road map to help structure their business.

• Providing one stop shop legal assistance to start-up technology companies.

Media and Entertainment Law

ELIG Gürkaynak has extensive knowledge and experience in the media and entertainment law area in Turkey. We handle all media and entertainment law related matters for domestic and international clients who operate in a wide range of media industry. We work with clients on many projects related to media productions, including the launch of new media platforms, film productions, and distribution arrangements and have also successfully represented our clients before Turkish courts and authorities at all levels.

Media convergence brings together computing, communication, and content, while being a direct consequence of the digitization of media content and the popularization of the internet. Media convergence transformed established industries, services, and work practices, enabling entirely new forms of content to emerge. It is transforming the long-established media industry and content “silos” and disengaging content from select devices such as televisions, satellite/cable boxes and radios. The phenomenon presents major challenges for public policy and regulation. ELIG Gürkaynak is one of the few law firms in Turkey that is able and prepared to meet a client’s needs with respect to legal issues arising from the convergence of technologies in the media industry.

We provide legal services to a wide range of players in the media industry including:

• Representing clients before Turkish authorities such as the authorities of telecommunication, broadcasting and intellectual property and thereby assisting clients in their communication and correspondence with these authorities and Turkish courts at all levels.

• Providing in-depth legal analysis on content provided, hosted, broadcasted, printed and published by our clients and providing them with creative counseling services to ensure compliance with the relevant legislation as well as decisions granted by Turkish courts and authorities.

• Providing sector-specific high-level regulatory advice and risk assessment related to media businesses and social media platforms in regards to compliance issues that may arise from the relevant legislation. We offer a range of legal counseling services providing comparative analysis of current and upcoming legislation, innovative legal solutions and our team ensures that our clients are notified when a potential legislative effort may have effects on their business.

• Drafting agreements and legal documents covering all aspects of the client’s business areas such as license agreements, talent agreements, intellectual property acquisition agreements, sponsorship agreements, production, co-production and post-production agreements, video game agreements, newspaper agreements, printing press agreements, organization agreements, promotion agreements, advertisement agreements and consulting agreements.

• Providing legal assistance regarding broadcasting and media strategies in Turkey for international companies.

• Providing legal assistance to gaming companies, along with a complete legal review and assistance for websites, which are localized in Turkey.

• Assisting news websites within the scope of Turkish law including but not limited to internet, advertising and media legislations.

Telecommunications Law

Increasing developments in the telecommunications sector introduce new legal challenges, which require multi-disciplinary and expert legal solutions.

ELIG Gürkaynak’s clients working in the telecommunications sector include both domestic and international companies. We provide legal advice on numerous matters including sector related regulatory and legal risk analysis, guidance on the steps to be taken, regulatory reporting and draft agreements.

The team at ELIG Gürkaynak provides an increasingly important range of legal advice to our clients, who are dealing with telecommunication law matters on a daily basis, including:

• Following up on legislative developments and reporting changes in the legal landscape.

• Identifying our clients’ business position under local and international legislation, together with a compliance analysis.

• Drafting sector specific agreements, including infrastructure outsourcing, cloud services, managed networks, mobile virtual network operation, VoIP services, and analyzing these for potential legal risks and issues under local legislation.

• Preparing and filing applications before the relevant governmental authorities.

• Legal counseling concerning administrative and technical aspects of disputes regarding the telecommunications sector.