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CAMLA Committee Members

Rebecca Dunn

 

President
Rebecca Dunn
Gilbert + Tobin

 

Rebecca is a Partner in Gilbert + Tobin’s Intellectual Property group and is an experienced intellectual property litigator who has worked on some of the leading copyright cases in Australia. In addition to copyright, her focus is on trade mark litigation and Part V trade practices litigation.  She has worked on a variety of enforcement matters for both national and international clients including the film and music industries. Rebecca has a Bachelor of Law (First Class Honours) from the University of Sydney and a Bachelor of Arts (Communications Studies) from the University of Newcastle. Rebecca was admitted as a solicitor in 2005 and is a member of the Copyright Society of Australia and the Intellectual Property Society of Australia & NZ.

Debra Richards

 

Vice President
Debra Richards
Netflix

 

Debra Richards is the immediate past CEO of Ausfilm. She has over 30 years communications, media & screen industry experience, previously 12 years as CEO of the Australian Subscription Television and Radio Association (ASTRA), over 13 years with Australia’s broadcasting regulator, then the Australian Broadcasting Authority (& Tribunal) and most recently almost nine years as CEO of Ausfilm, attracting major production and post production work to Australia.

Debra is a Director of the Communications and Media Law Association (CAMLA) Board; Treasurer of the International Institute of Communications, Australia (IICA); Deputy Chair of the Advertising Beverage Advertising Code (ABAC) adjudication panel; a Director of Northcott, a professional member of the Australian Film Institute (AFI) and a marriage celebrant.

Debra is the Director of APAC Production Policy for Netflix.

Martyn Taylor

 

Vice President
Martyn Taylor
Norton Rose Fulbright

 

Martyn was CAMLA President from 2017-2021 and was previously Treasurer.  He is a Partner and Board Member of global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright.  He heads the telecoms and media group in the Asia-Pacific.  His practice covers transactional, contentious and advisory with a focus on telecoms, media & technology (TMT).   Martyn is named as a ‘top 10’ TMT legal advisor in Asia.  He has won numerous awards, including Australian Partner of the Year (Telecoms & Media) in 2022 and M&A Deal of the Year in 2021 for his role advising on the $16 billion mega-merger of Vodafone with TPG Telecom.  As well as holding a PhD in law, Martyn is a qualified economist and he holds a masters’ in corporate finance.  He has attended Harvard University, Oxford University and Wharton Business School.  He is Treasurer of the ILS section of the Law Council of Australia and has other various board/director roles.

 

Secretary
Marlia Saunders
Thomson Geer

 

 

Marlia is a Partner in the Media Team at Thomson Geer, where she specialises in media and defamation, intellectual property, and privacy law.  She was previously the Senior Litigation Counsel at News Corp Australia, where she advised and acted for newspapers, news websites and magazines throughout Australia.  She works on high profile defamation litigation, contempt and suppression order matters, editorial complaints, pre-publication advice and commercial/IP agreements.  Prior to working at News, Marlia worked at Ashurst for almost 13 years in the media/intellectual property team.  Over the years, Marlia has undertaken secondments at Foxtel, Telstra and the Australian Digital Health Agency.

 

Treasurer/Public Officer
Julie Cheeseman
Bird & Bird

 

Julie Cheeseman is a Partner at Bird & Bird, where she specialises in media and technology disputes and advice.  Julie has over 15 years’ experience managing a range of IT&T and media disputes across various jurisdictions and forums.  She enjoys working closely with her clients’ legal and commercial teams to devise and implement strategic and effective approaches to case formulation, presentation and resolution.  In addition to her disputes practice, Julie regularly provides advice and training to clients in a variety of areas, including prepublication, defamation, copyright, privacy and data breach laws, covering traditional and online platforms. On weekends, you will likely find her swimming laps in one of Sydney’s beautiful ocean pools.

 

Communications Law Bulletin Editor
Eli Fisher
Network Ten

 

Eli Fisher is Senior Legal Counsel at Network Ten. Eli is a commercial lawyer and litigator who specialises in technology law, in particular intellectual property, media and privacy. He has acted on a wide range of commercial and contentious matters, including for media and news organisations, music and entertainment companies, copyright collecting societies, major financial institutions, airports, advertisers, software and technology providers, major FMCG retailers and eCommerce businesses. Eli edits the Communications Law Bulletin, and also sits on the Management Committee of the Copyright Society of Australia. He has completed a Master of Laws degree (With Excellence) at UNSW, dual-specialising in Media & Technology Law, and Innovation Law.

 

Communications Law Bulletin Editor
Ashleigh Fehrenbach
Reynolds Porter Chamberlain, London

Ashleigh is a Senior Associate in the IP & Technology team at RPC, London. Ashleigh commenced her legal career in private practice at Sydney law firm Addisons, where she quickly identified a love of media and intellectual property law.  Her main focus is brand protection strategy and dealing with IP disputes including privacy, trade marks, copyright, misleading and deceptive conduct and passing off. Ashleigh also advises on commercial and litigation matters.  More recently, she has worked with financial services and insurance clients in responding to the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry.  Ashleigh has also gained experience as in-house counsel for an international engineering company and a global pharmaceutical company.  In 2017, she took part in a month long secondment to a law firm in Costa Rica. Ashleigh is passionate about pro bono work and is heavily involved in MinterEllison’s community investment initiatives.  Outside of private practice, Ashleigh is the Vice Chair of the NSW Young Lawyers Communications, Entertainment and Technology Committee. In her spare time, Ashleigh likes to run long distances and is recently competed in  the New York marathon.

 

Board member
Sylvia Alcarraz
Dentons

 

Sylvia specialises in media law, defamation and reputation management. She has represented clients in the news, television, radio and podcasts industries, as well as advising various technology organisations.  Sylvia has acted in a number of disputes and litigation that have drawn significant media interest and is experienced in providing advice across all aspects of media law including defamation, pre-publication advice, contempt of court, suppression orders and anti-discrimination/racial vilification matters.  Sylvia also acts and advises on a broad range of commercial disputes, questions of breach of confidence, breach of privacy and more broadly, sport law matters where she is a member of the Australian and New Zealand Sports Law Association.  Sylvia has a completed a Master of Laws at UNSW specialising in Media & Technology Law.  Whilst at Dentons, Sylvia has also undertaken a secondment working as a Senior Lawyer at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 

 

Board member
Gillian Clyde
Creative Lawyers

 

Gillian is a highly experienced senior lawyer and manager, with expertise spanning the public, private and non for profit sectors, specialising in contract, commercial, copyright, intellectual property, film, television, media and entertainment law and policy. Gillian consults to various clients in the entertainment and media industries, utilising her extensive expertise in the creative industries, including film and television production, financing, distribution and rights management. Gillian was recently Legal and Business Affairs Executive at Beyond International, working across a range of projects, focussing on scripted productions and co-productions. Prior to joining Beyond Gillian held senior management, legal and business affairs positions in the UK and Australia including at the UK Film Council, The Walt Disney Company in London, the Australian Film Finance Corporation (Screen Australia) and at Screenrights.

 

Board member
Chris Chow
Creative Lawyers

 

 

Chris Chow is the founder and Managing Partner of Creative Lawyers. He specialises in advising clients on contractual, commercial and intellectual property matters in the entertainment and creative industries. Chris has spent his entire career working with clients involved in music, film, TV, games/software, content and otherwise creative endeavours, helping them achieve practical solutions, protect their rights and assist in dispute resolution. Chris founded Creative Lawyers in 2012, and it has since become a one-stop-shop for clients in the entertainment and creative industries.

 

Board member
Emma Johnsen
Marque Lawyers

 

Emma works at Marque Lawyers in its Commercial Litigation and Content, Media & Technology teams.  Her career story is a freakish obsession with the music industry, having worked at Music Rights Australia, EMI Music Publishing and PRS for Music in the UK, followed by Copyright Agency Limited, before settling at Marque and taking over the office music selections.  She has extensive experience in litigation relating to intellectual property, as well as in general commercial disputes. Emma is also the Vice President of the Copyright Society of Australia.

 

Board member 
Marina Olsen
Banki Haddock Fiora

 

Marina is a partner at Banki Haddock Fiora, a firm she joined in 2013 after practising as a Senior Associate at Allens Linklaters and at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in London. She has extensive experience in litigation relating to both defamation and intellectual property, as well as in general commercial disputes. Marina also advises on commercial and privacy legal issues, with a particular focus on issues facing media clients. Her expertise and interest covers a broad range of industries, including media and entertainment, sport, design and consumer goods. She regularly conducts training seminars and participates in panel discussions for non-lawyers, and has authored numerous papers (including for the Communications Law Bulletin). She is a member of the Australian and New Zealand Sports Law Association and works closely with the Authentic Design Alliance, which supports and promotes original, authentic design in Australia.

 

Board member 
Nicholas Perkins
Ashurst

 

Nick Perkins is a senior associate at Ashurst in their technology, media and telecommunications team. Nick’s practice includes advising clients on a variety of contentious and non-contentious matters across different areas of media, intellectual property and technology law.  He acts in a range of defamation, intellectual property and contractual disputes and regularly advises on pre-publication, media regulatory, marketing and consumer law issues.  Nick also has experience advising clients on commercial matters in the media, technology and telecommunications sectors, including content licensing arrangements, IT customer agreements and telecommunications contracts. Throughout his time at Ashurst, Nick has undertaken client secondments at News Corp Australia, NBN Co and Telstra.

 

Board member 
Rebecca Lindhout
McCullough Robertson

 

 

Rebecca is Consultant at HWL Ebsworth.  She acts across a broad range of TMT matters, including media rights and production, sponsorship, talent, marketing, technology procurement and services agreements and telco.  She also advises on general commercial arrangements and the IP/IT aspects of corporate transactions.  Rebecca obtained her law degree from Oxford University and trained at Slaughter and May in London, including on secondment to ITV. She also spent a number of years working at FOX SPORTS Australia.

 

Board member 
Katherine Sessions
eSafety Commissioner

 

Katherine Sessions is a Senior Legal & Policy Advisor for the Commonwealth eSafety Commissioner in Sydney, where she works across all things media and tech, IP, privacy and Safety by Design. In addition to her work at eSafety, Katherine is also an ACMA and ACCC alumnus. While at the ACMA, Katherine worked across teams to develop and implement regulatory reform with a focus on online content, streamed services and apps, as well as working extensively with the Interactive Gambling Taskforce. Last year, she was as a secondee on the Digital Platforms inquiry that the ACCC recently completed. Before public service life, Katherine worked in private practice as a telecommunications, media and technology lawyer.

 

Board member 
Calli Tsipidis
Fox Sports

 

Calli Tsipidis is Legal Counsel at Foxtel Group, working across the FOX SPORTS Australia, Kayo Sports, BINGE, Flash and Foxtel brands. She advises the sports content and production, sales, partnerships, digital product and marketing teams, and was a key stakeholder supporting the build and launch of Flash, BINGE, Kayo Freebies and Pay-Per-View on Kayo. In 2022, Calli was named ‘Sports and Entertainment Lawyer of the Year’ at the Lawyers Weekly Corporate Counsel Awards, and in 2021, Calli was named ‘Rising Star of the Year – In House’ and ‘In House Lawyer of the Year’ at the Lawyers Weekly Women in Law Awards.

 

Board member 
Tim Webb
Clayton Utz

 

Tim Webb is a partner at Clayton Utz in the Intellectual Property & Technology group based in Sydney. He is an experienced commercial litigator, and has won notable Australian cases in trade marks, copyright and designs, and regularly acts for clients in the Copyright Tribunal of Australia. He also has a strong international arbitration practice and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.  Many of his clients are in the technology, media and telecommunications sectors.  Tim’s special interest is intellectual property, in both contentious and non-contentious matters.

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