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One man’s Call of Duty is a law firm’s restructuring

November 30, 2009

There’s some good stuff over at The Lawyer on how the UK’s top firms have reconstituted themselves during the recession. Click here to note some interesting stats, and click here for something completely different: courtesy of the good folk at RollonFriday, we now know that at least one judge is so down with the kids that he pulled a sickie having played Call of Duty: Modern Warfare all night.

Pictured: Flickr user Adrian DC confesses to playing Call of Duty all night. Will he one day become a member of the judiciary, we wonder?

Lester and Libel (and a general election)

November 30, 2009

Roy Greenslade sums up Lord Lester’s proposals for reform of the libel laws in this post. Lester, a Liberal Democrat peer, is drawing up a Defamation Reform Bill which would:

1. Reform contingency fee agreements (aka no-win no-fee deals), memorably described by David Hooper as “the ransom factor” in contemporary libel litigation given that the costs racked up by claimant lawyers make it expensive for publishers to defend themselves.

2. End the principle of “multiple publication”, which means that internet sites can be sued over archived articles. Lester proposes the replacement of this with a “single publication rule”.

3. Prevent foreigners from suing in the British courts unless they can demonstrate that they have suffered real harm in Britain.

4. Enhance the public interest (qualified privilege) defence, which is presently somewhat of a hurdling exercise.

Professor Greenslade also notes that the Sunday Times, which carried Lester’s proposals yesterday, is currently being sued by Russia’s richest woman. He omits to say, however, that with a general election but a few months away, the worry must be that the sound and fury generated by the media over the state of the libel laws may ultimately signify nothing, lost amid backbench reshuffles and empty politico rhetoric.

Branded Content moves a step closer with YouTube’s embrace of TV

November 30, 2009

Swordplay has been keeping an eye on the emergence of branded content, a phenomenon which blurs conventional distinctions between advertising and entertainment and now boasts its very own Wikipedia page. That may not be conclusive evidence of its arrival, but expected changes to present restrictions on what has long been known as good old product placement will surely usher in a new era of branded content before long, a development which we welcome as encouraging creativity, asking questions of a mature media audience and helping to solve the dire state of advertising in conventional TV. Thus, too, we note with approval YouTube’s embrace of full-length TV shows, in connection with which there appear to be no reasons prohibiting branded content (although for now YouTube’s offerings will apparently eschew advertising).

Pleasingly, YouTube blends old and new. Its medium of choice to advertise its foray into TV? Why, good old press and bus ads.

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