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Devin Law & IP · Practice Areas

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Comprehensive legal services combining sector expertise with strategic legal insight: clear, practical and result-oriented solutions for businesses and individuals. Eight dedicated practice groups cover intellectual property, media and advertising, data protection, technology, corporate matters, dispute resolution and maritime law, for multinational groups and early-stage ventures alike.

03Media, Entertainment & Advertisement LawWhere creative expression meets complex regulation, advertising review, broadcasting compliance, production and talent agreements.

Media, Entertainment & Advertisement Law

Operating at the intersection of creative expression and complex regulatory frameworks, we provide strategic legal solutions for a broad range of clients — from industrial manufacturers and global brands to production houses, record labels, broadcasters and digital creators. The practice covers a project from the first option on a manuscript through financing, production, clearance and distribution, and stands behind it when a campaign is investigated, a format is copied or a reputation is attacked.

Advertising and media law in Türkiye is enforced actively: the Advertising Board reviews campaigns line by line, RTÜK monitors broadcast and on-demand content, and the influencer guidelines impose disclosure duties on creators and the brands behind them. A campaign that runs without legal review can end with suspension orders, administrative fines and reputational damage that far exceeds the cost of prevention.

Our team combines regulatory pre-clearance with contract architecture and, where necessary, decisive defence — representing manufacturers, global brands, broadcasters, production houses, labels and digital talent throughout the full lifecycle of a campaign or production, from concept and clearance to broadcast, dispute and enforcement.

Production work turns on chain of title. An option that was never exercised, a writer who was never paid, a location release that was never signed, a song cleared for television but not for streaming — each is enough to stall delivery to a platform or to unwind a financing. We build and audit that chain from the first document, so that when a distributor's legal team examines the file, nothing is missing.

The commercial map has also shifted. Global streaming platforms now commission directly, brands fund content rather than merely sponsoring it, and a single creator can carry more reach than a broadcast slot. Each of those routes carries its own regulatory footprint — RTÜK for on-demand services, the Advertising Board for branded content, consumer protection rules for what an endorsement may promise — and we structure deals so that the commercial intention survives contact with all three.

A production is only as strong as its paperwork. We build the rights position from the first option — through financing, cast and crew, locations and third-party clearances — so that when a distributor or platform examines the chain of title before delivery, nothing is missing and no payment is held back.

Development & Rights
  • Option and purchase agreements for literary works, formats and underlying rights
  • Life-story and life-rights agreements, including consents and waivers
  • Chain-of-title audits and remedial documentation before financing or delivery
  • Writer, format and adaptation agreements with clear reversion terms
Production & Financing
  • Financing agreements, gap and bridge structures and completion arrangements
  • Co-production treaties and international co-production structuring
  • Above-the-line agreements — directors, lead cast, writers and producers
  • Below-the-line agreements — crew, directors of photography, editors and post houses
  • Location, studio and release agreements; clearance of third-party materials
Distribution & Delivery
  • Domestic and international theatrical distribution agreements
  • Broadcasting licences and acquisition deals with OTT/VOD platforms
  • Delivery schedules, E&O insurance requirements and legal deliverables
  • Product placement and brand integration within series and features under RTÜK rules
Development & Chain of TitleStructuring the foundational rights for film and TV projects. Drafting option and purchase agreements for literary adaptations, life-story rights agreements, and ensuring an unbroken, airtight chain of title prior to production.
Production & Financing AgreementsComprehensive legal counsel from pre-production to post-production. Drafting financing agreements, co-production treaties, “above-the-line” (directors, lead actors, writers) and “below-the-line” (crew, DOPs, editors) agreements, and location/studio release contracts.
Distribution & LicensingNegotiating domestic and international theatrical distribution agreements, broadcasting licenses, and complex acquisition deals for global OTT/VOD streaming platforms (Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, etc.).
Product Placement & Branded EntertainmentStructuring product placement (ürün yerleştirme) and brand integration agreements within television series and feature films, ensuring strict compliance with RTÜK regulations and advertising laws.
Format Rights & Licensed AdaptationsAcquiring and licensing television formats, drafting production bibles and adaptation terms, and enforcing format rights against unlicensed imitations that reproduce a show's distinctive structure.
Delivery, E&O Insurance & Legal DeliverablesPreparing the legal deliverables package platforms and distributors require — clearances, releases, opinion letters and errors-and-omissions cover — so that acceptance and payment are not delayed.

The Advertising Board reads a campaign the way a regulator does, not the way a marketing team intends it. We review copy, claims and substantiation before air, and where a file is already open we defend it — from the first written submission through the sanction hearing to the appeal.

Clearance & Risk
  • Pre-clearance review of campaigns across television, print, outdoor and digital media
  • Comparative advertising, superiority and price-promotion risk assessment
  • Environmental and sustainability claims, with greenwashing exposure analysis
  • Substantiation files supporting performance, health and efficacy claims
Regulated Sectors
  • Pharmaceuticals, medical devices and health services
  • Cosmetics, food and beverage — including nutrition and health claims
  • Banking, financial services, insurance and credit advertising
  • Automotive, energy and consumer electronics performance claims
Enforcement & Defence
  • Representation before the Advertising Board in investigations and sanction hearings
  • Appeals against administrative fines, suspension and correction orders
  • Competitor complaints and responses before the Board and the courts
  • Consumer arbitration committee and consumer court proceedings
Advertising Board (Reklam Kurulu) RepresentationProviding rigorous defense and representation for multinational brands and advertising agencies in administrative investigations, sanction hearings, and penalty appeals before the Turkish Advertising Board.
Campaign Clearance & Risk AssessmentPre-clearing commercial campaigns across television, print, and digital media. Conducting risk assessments for comparative advertising, price promotions, and environmental claims (preventing “greenwashing” allegations).
Sector-Specific Marketing ComplianceFormulating strictly compliant advertising strategies for highly regulated industries, including pharmaceuticals, medical devices, cosmetics, food & beverage (health claims), banking, and the automotive sector.
Digital Marketing & Data-Driven AdvertisingAdvising on the legalities of programmatic advertising, targeted marketing, affiliate marketing networks, and ensuring compliance with consumer protection laws regarding “dark patterns” and deceptive digital designs.
Promotions, Contests & Prize DrawsStructuring consumer promotions, competitions and prize draws — including permit requirements, terms and conditions, and the boundary between a lawful promotion and a regulated game of chance.
Agency Engagements & Production RightsDrafting agency, media-buying and production agreements so that campaign assets, footage and usage rights transfer to the brand for the territories and terms actually required.

Talent contracts fail at the edges — what happens on controversy, who owns the account, how long the image may be used after the campaign ends. We draft for those moments rather than for the ideal case, and where minors are involved we build the additional consents and protections the law requires.

Talent & Agencies
  • Exclusive and non-exclusive management and agency agreements
  • Long-term brand ambassadorships and endorsement structures
  • Morals clauses, suspension rights and negotiated exit strategies
  • Image, name and likeness licensing, including post-term use restrictions
Creators & Social Media
  • Influencer and content-creator agreements with deliverables and usage windows
  • Disclosure compliance for sponsored content, gifted products and affiliate links
  • Platform terms, account ownership and content archive rights
  • Crisis clauses covering takedowns, controversy and reputational events
Minors & Special Regimes
  • Employment of child actors, models and minor creators
  • Court approvals, working-hour limits and guardianship consents
  • Protection of minors' financial rights and earnings arrangements
  • Education continuity and welfare obligations on set
Talent Representation & ExclusivityNegotiating exclusive and non-exclusive management agreements, talent agency contracts, and long-term brand ambassadorships. Structuring complex “morals clauses” and exit strategies for high-profile talent.
Influencer Marketing & Social Media LawDrafting robust influencer and content creator agreements. Ensuring compliance with the FTC-style disclosure guidelines of the Turkish Advertising Board regarding sponsored content, gifted products, and affiliate links (#işbirliği/#reklam).
Child Talent RegulationsNavigating the strict labor and civil law regulations surrounding the employment of child actors, models, and minor influencers, ensuring the protection of their financial and moral rights.
Image Rights & Post-Campaign UseDefining the scope, territory and duration of image and likeness licences, including archive and repurposing rights, so that a brand's use after the campaign ends remains authorised.

Music rights are layered — the composition and the recording are separate rights, often held by different parties, and a licence that clears one leaves the other exposed. We clear both, and structure live and label agreements so that revenue, credit and control follow the deal that was actually negotiated.

Recording & Publishing
  • Exclusive recording agreements and 360-degree deals
  • Producer, featured artist and session musician agreements
  • Publishing agreements and master / publishing split negotiations
  • Catalogue acquisitions, transfers and reversion claims
Licensing & Clearance
  • Synchronisation licences for film, television, advertising and games
  • Master use agreements and dual clearance of composition and recording
  • Sampling, interpolation and cover version clearances
  • Territory, term and media-scope drafting for multi-platform releases
Live & Collecting Societies
  • Concert promotion, venue and ticketing agency agreements
  • Festival sponsorship, liability allocation and insurance requirements
  • Blanket licences and tariff disputes with MESAM, MSG, MÜ-YAP and MÜYORBİR
  • Force majeure, cancellation and postponement frameworks
Record Labels & PublishingFull-scale representation for record labels, music publishers, and recording artists. Negotiating 360-degree deals, exclusive recording contracts, producer agreements, and master/publishing splits.
Clearance & Sync LicensingManaging complex synchronization (sync) licenses and master use agreements for the integration of music into films, commercials, television programs, and video games.
Collecting Societies (Meslek Birlikleri)Managing relationships, blanket licensing agreements, and tariff disputes with Turkish musical collecting societies (MESAM, MSG, MÜ-YAP, MÜYORBİR).
Live Events, Festivals & TouringStructuring legal frameworks for large-scale live entertainment. Drafting concert promotion agreements, venue leases, ticketing agency contracts, sponsorship deals, and managing liability and insurance requirements for festivals.
Sampling, Interpolation & Cover VersionsClearing samples and interpolations across both the composition and the recording, and advising on the mechanical and moral rights limits that apply to cover versions and remixes.

Broadcast and press regulation moves faster than litigation: a decision can take a programme off air before an appeal is even filed. We work on that timescale — pre-broadcast review where possible, and immediate written defence and stay applications where a file has already opened.

RTÜK & Licensing
  • Broadcasting licences, on-demand service authorisations and transfer approvals
  • Content standards, watershed rules, subtitling and accessibility obligations
  • Advertising minutage, sponsorship and product placement compliance
  • Defence against administrative fines, programme suspension and licence sanctions
Press & Publishing
  • Advisory for newspapers, magazines and digital news portals under the Press Law
  • Liability of editors-in-chief, publishers and platform operators
  • Source protection, publication bans and reporting restrictions
  • Corrections, retractions and archive management
RTÜK Compliance & Regulatory AffairsNavigating the complex regulatory framework of the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK). Advising on broadcasting licenses, content restrictions, and appealing administrative fines or broadcast suspension penalties.
Press Law & PublishingLegal counsel for newspapers, magazines, and digital news portals regarding the Turkish Press Law. Managing the legal liabilities of editors-in-chief and publishers.
On-Demand & Streaming AuthorisationsAdvising foreign and domestic on-demand services on RTÜK licensing obligations, local representation requirements and the content rules that apply once a service is authorised.

Reputation matters are decided in hours, not terms. The response combines an injunction application, a statutory right of reply, platform takedowns and — where synthetic media is involved — forensic preservation of the material before it disappears, all run in parallel rather than in sequence.

Defamation & Response
  • Defamation and insult claims for individuals, executives and corporate entities
  • Statutory right of reply and correction (düzeltme ve cevap) procedures
  • Preliminary injunctions against ongoing publications and broadcasts
  • Coordinated legal and communications strategy during active media attention
Digital Removal
  • Right to be forgotten applications against search engines and news archives
  • Content removal and access-blocking under Internet Law No. 5651
  • Platform escalation, repeat-offender handling and archive de-indexing
  • Cross-border takedown coordination with foreign counsel
AI & Synthetic Media
  • Urgent action against deepfakes, voice cloning and synthetic likenesses
  • Name, image and likeness (NIL) enforcement in AI-generated content
  • Evidence preservation and forensic documentation of synthetic material
  • Advisory on consented use of digital replicas in production and advertising
Defamation & Right of Reply (Tekzip)Aggressive legal protection for celebrities, executives, and corporate entities against defamatory publications. Executing the statutory Right of Reply (Düzeltme ve Cevap) and seeking preliminary injunctions against ongoing media attacks.
Right to be Forgotten & Digital PrivacyManaging the removal of outdated or privacy-violating content from search engines, news archives, and social media platforms under the “Right to be Forgotten” (Unutulma Hakkı).
Deepfake & AI Crisis ManagementProviding urgent legal interventions against the unauthorized use of name, image, and likeness (NIL) through AI-generated deepfakes, voice cloning, and synthetic media.
Crisis Protocols & Pre-Publication ReviewPreparing response protocols before a crisis arises — holding statements, escalation paths and pre-agreed injunction papers — and reviewing sensitive content prior to publication to remove actionable exposure.

Entertainment disputes carry a commercial clock: a title held back from release loses value every week. We assess early whether the client's interest lies in interim relief, in a negotiated settlement that keeps the project moving, or in a judgment — and run the case accordingly.

Contract Disputes
  • Breach of talent exclusivity and management agreement disputes
  • Production financing, completion and delivery disputes
  • Distribution, licensing and platform acquisition disputes
  • Termination, reversion and catalogue ownership claims
Rights & Royalties
  • Unpaid royalty, residual and profit-participation claims
  • Audit rights, accounting disputes and recoupment analysis
  • Intellectual property theft and format infringement actions
  • Credit and moral rights disputes affecting attribution
Forum & Strategy
  • Proceedings before civil, commercial and specialized IP courts
  • Interim relief, evidence preservation and expert examination management
  • Mediation and negotiated settlement where continuity matters commercially
  • Enforcement of judgments and cross-border coordination
Complex Dispute ResolutionRobust representation in high-stakes litigation involving breach of talent exclusivity, unpaid royalties, intellectual property theft, format infringement, and production financing disputes before civil courts, commercial courts, and specialized IP courts.
Royalty Audits & Profit ParticipationPursuing and defending accounting disputes — auditing statements, testing recoupment and challenging deductions where residuals and profit participations have been understated.
Interim Relief & Evidence PreservationSecuring injunctions that stop a release, a broadcast or a campaign while the merits are decided, and preserving evidence through determination-of-evidence proceedings before it is altered or removed.

Insights on this area

Media & AdvertisingAdvertising Board Decisions — Meeting No. 365: Sectoral and Thematic Assessment12 March 2026Media & AdvertisingAdvertising Board Decisions — Meeting No. 364: Current Legal Assessments4 February 2026