Media, Internet & E-Commerce
Today’s globalized, interconnected economic systems are driving rapid change in many industries, nowhere more so than in media, the Internet and e-commerce. Businesses and organizations engaged in those industry channels need legal representation as proactive, responsive, and up-to-the-minute as they themselves have to be, and that’s just what they get with LeClairRyan’s Media, Internet and E-Commerce Industry team.
These channels comprise a relatively new segment of the economy; so, too, the laws and regulations that govern them. Our Media, Internet and E-Commerce Industry team has been helping clients transact business on the Internet and deal with related legal issues since 1997, a “virtual lifetime” in the world of commercial bits and bytes. Our attorneys have been at the forefront of the development of laws and policies affecting the transaction of business on the Internet, and we are proud to have played a major role in the legislation of Virginia’s 1999 Internet Policy Act—the nation’s first-ever comprehensive state Internet policy, which is now being reviewed by others states as a model for similar legislation.
Our Media, Internet and E-commerce Industry team has helped numerous online enterprises form and organize their businesses as corporations or limited liability companies. We have assisted many companies in raising capital through both debt and equity offerings, including representation of an online retailer in its $126.5 million initial public offering of common stock. Our range of services includes contract drafting and negotiation; legal guidance and representation in intellectual property matters, such as trademark registration and protection, copyrights, and software licensing; litigation; regulated Internet businesses; and taxation.
“Media convergence” has become a catch phrase in the marketing profession over the past couple of years, as continued advances in technology bring further integration to all kinds of electronic commerce and other online transactions. As this exciting new industry continues to develop and emerge, our attorneys in LeClairRyan’s Media, Internet and E-commerce Industry team will be right there with it, providing our clients with the best possible advice, counsel, guidance, and representation in an increasingly wired world.