Committee Members

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.

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.

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.  His practice covers transactional, contentious and advisory with a focus on telecoms, media & technology (TMT), as well as competition & regulatory matters.   He has around 30 years’ experience in the TMT sector acting on some of the largest matters in Australia and overseas.  Martyn has been named as a ‘top 10’ TMT legal advisor in Asia.  He has won numerous awards and is ranked by various directories.  He has many qualifications, including a PhD in law and masters in corporate finance.  He has attended Harvard University and Oxford University.  He is Treasurer of the International Section of the Law Council of Australia and has many other board/leadership 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 and IP 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.  She is the Chair of the Media & Communications Committee of the Law Council of Australia.

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 a Senior Legal Counsel at Paramount. Eli is a commercial lawyer and adviser to the media, entertainment and tech industries, particularly in relation to production, content and talent; privacy, cybersecurity and data management; IP/IT; AdTech, advertising and publishing laws; and competition and consumer regulation. Eli co-edits the Communications Law Bulletin. He completed his Masters of Laws degree (graduating with excellence) at UNSW, dual-specialising in Media & Technology Law, and Innovation Law, where he was awarded the “best performing postgraduate student across all postgraduate programs at the law school”. In 2024, Eli was named by Australasian Lawyer as one of Australia’s most influential lawyers.

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 is Managing Associate in the Disputes & Risk Advisory team at Dentons.  She specialises in defamation and media law.  She advises media organisations and technology companies across all aspects of media law, including defamation, pre-publication, racial discrimination complaints, as well as a range of commercial disputes, regulatory investigations and privacy law.  Sylvia’s practice has expanded into new and developing areas of law where she advises online platforms in relation to online safety law and content regulation in Australia and across the APAC region.

Sylvia has a completed a Master of Laws specialising in Media & Technology Law at UNSW and has also undertaken a secondment working as a Senior Lawyer at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.  She is a Committee Member of the Media & Communications Committee of the Law Council of Australia.

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
Gadens

Marina is a partner in the IPT Group at Gadens, a firm she joined , a firm she joined in 2024 after a number of years at specialist IP / media firm Banki Haddock Fiora. Prior to that, Marina practised as a Senior Associate at Allens Linklaters and a lawyer 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 has worked 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
HWL Ebsworth

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 
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.

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 
Tess Mierendorff
Herbert Smith Freehills

Tess is a partner at Herbert Smith Freehills advising clients on IP issues in complex commercial transactions across a range of sectors including the technology, consumer, media and energy sectors. Tess works closely with clients to help maximise value from their IP assets including through acquisitions and divestments, IP and technology licensing, distribution agreements, franchising, research and development agreements and other third party collaborations. Tess started her career at Herbert Smith Freehills and has practised for over 12 years.

Board member 
Nick Kraegen
Baker McKenzie

Board member 
Lee Elsdon
Simpsons

Board member 
Gillian Clyde
SBS