The legal landscape around funding incentives, copyright, and AI is rapidly evolving. One year on from major reforms to the Producer Offset and Division 376, it is essential to be across updated QAPE assessments, recent AAT appeals, and the changing role of Screen Australia. At the same time, the rise of generative AI is prompting a re-evaluation of copyright law and regulatory frameworks in Australia and globally. This program will also address key developments in cultural rights and workforce trends. Be prepared for the introduction of ICIP legislation, significant shifts in the engagement of crew and talent, and the complex legal issues surrounding DGR-endorsed cultural organisations, including governance, tax, and contractual considerations. You will gain insights from senior legal professionals and industry leaders to equip you to provide informed, strategic advice in an area of law undergoing substantial and ongoing transformation.

Presenters

Ian Robertson AO, Partner and Chair, Holding Redlich
Ian Robertson is a corporate, commercial, media, and regulatory lawyer who heads the media and communications practice of national law firm Holding Redlich. He is also the Chair of Holding Redlich. He became a partner of Holding Redlich in Melbourne in 1990 and established the firm's Sydney office in 1994. Ian has been listed in the peer-voted directory Best Lawyers in Australia since 2011, and he is currently listed as a leading lawyer in the categories of Corporate Law, Entertainment Law, and Defamation & Media Law. Ian has held a number of public and private sector Board appointments including President of the Board of the Victorian Government screen agency, Film Victoria, Deputy Chair of the Australian Government screen agency, Screen Australia, board member of the Australian Broadcasting Authority, director and Chair of Ausfilm, and director and Deputy Chair of Film Australia Limited. He is currently a director and the Chair of the screen production company Beyond International Pty Ltd.

Janine Lapworth, Legal Consultant
Janine Lapworth is a Senior Consultant with extensive experience in corporate, commercial, intellectual property, and entertainment law. She has worked at national and international law firms, as well as in senior in-house legal positions at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and ESPN Star Sports. Janine advises a diverse range of clients, including international studios, industry groups, tech start-ups, and creative businesses, focusing on areas such as television production, distribution, publishing, and general IP contracting.


Rebecca Dunn, Partner, Gilbert + Tobin
Rebecca is a partner in Gilbert + Tobin’s Tech & IP group and an experienced litigator in intellectual property and media law. She specialises in copyright, defamation, trade mark litigation, and Australian Consumer Law, with particular expertise in the online space. Her enforcement work spans national and international clients in the film and music industries, and she has litigated in the Supreme and Federal Courts, including at the High Court of Australia. Rebecca serves as President of the Communications and Media Law Alliance and is a member of several professional societies. She holds a Bachelor of Law (First Class Honours) from the University of Sydney, a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Newcastle, and a Master of Research focused on social media law and democracy.


Dr Louise Buckingham, CEO, Arts Law
Dr Louise Buckingham is the CEO of the Arts Law Centre of Australia. As a lawyer and lecturer she has specialised in intellectual property, cultural heritage and human rights and has worked in commercial and in-house roles across the corporate, education and not-for-profit sectors in Sydney, London and California (beginning at Corrs Chambers Westgarth, Sydney, and most recently in the award-winning Tech + IP and Innovation teams at Gilbert + Tobin with several years as the Senior Lawyer at the Australian Copyright Council and an editor of the Copyright Reporter along the way). She holds a BA(Hons First Class Ancient History)/LLB(Hons) and an LLM from the University of Sydney, an MSc (Comparative Politics) from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a PhD from the University of New South Wales (her thesis, broadly concerned with the subject matter of today's discussion won a Law Faculty Award for Excellence and her studies were supported by an Australian Postgraduate Award).


Sophie Dawson, Partner, Johnson Winter Slattery
Sophie is a leading media, information technology, intellectual property and privacy partner with a particular focus on advice and disputes. She has extensive experience in advising and acting for companies and agencies in relation to matters including defamation, intellectual property, privacy and law reform advice and disputes. She has also successfully acted for telecommunications and information technologies including many of the world’s leading suppliers, in strategic disputes including in negotiations, mediations, expert determinations and domestic and international arbitrations as well as litigation. Sophie is ranked as a leading media lawyer in Chambers & Partners, leading privacy lawyer in Legal 500, leading lawyer in Best Lawyers in each of her key areas of practice and a recommended privacy and data protection lawyer in the Lexology Index. Sophie has also been recognised as a Preeminent Technology, Media & Telecommunications lawyer (NSW) in the 2026 Doyle’s Guide rankings. Sophie is co-author of Thomson Reuters' Media & Internet Law & Practice and is the current author of the Internet title in Laws of Australia. She is a past president of the Communications and Media Law Association and is a current member of the UTS Centre for Media Transition Advisory Board.

Janine Pearce, Principal, JP Media Law + Consulting
Janine is a highly experienced entertainment, media and intellectual property lawyer with an international career spanning private practice, broadcast media, screen finance and film production. As Principal of JP Media Law + Consulting, she advises producers, financiers, distributors, creators and production companies on all aspects of media, entertainment and copyright law, including financing, production, distribution and complex commercial transactions. Janine holds a Juris Doctor from Columbia University School of Law in New York and began her legal career with leading international law firm Cleary Gottlieb, practising in New York and Tokyo in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, securities and intellectual property law. She later joined Showtime Networks in the United States, advising on television distribution, advertising, copyright, trade mark and antitrust matters. After relocating to Australia, Janine served as Legal Manager at the Film Finance Corporation, the predecessor to Screen Australia, where she advised on investments in feature films and television productions. Since establishing her own practice in 2008, she has become a trusted adviser to the screen industry and has also worked as an Executive Producer on feature films including Road Train and The Reef. In addition, she is a partner in Chesterfield Offset Finance Company, a specialist film financing business.

Jake Blundell, Partner, Banki Haddock Fiora
Jake specialises in media law and defamation, acting for a number of news media organisations and broadcasters. Jake has represented media organisations, including Nine Entertainment, in relation to non-publication and suppression order matters and applications seeking media access to court documents. Jake has been involved in defamation litigation in a range of jurisdictions, from the NSW District Court to the High Court of Australia. He also played a central role in coordinating Banki Haddock Fiora’s submissions in relation to the recent defamation law reform process, and the NSW Law Reform Commission’s ongoing review of the legislative provisions relating to access to court documents, closed court procedures, suppression and non-publication orders. Jake has also advised clients in the technology, film, television, and music industries and not-for-profits in relation to reputational, structuring, corporate and commercial matters. Jake is a member of the board of PACT Centre for Emerging Artists.


Kevin Lynch, Partner, Johnson Winter Slattery
Kevin is a dispute resolution lawyer specialising in media law. He advises leading media and technology companies in relation to defamation, privacy, legislative restrictions, broadcast regulation, copyright, contractual matters and consumer issues. He also advises on general commercial litigation matters in various courts and tribunals. The 2026 edition of the Legal 500 lists Kevin as a leading individual in media and entertainment, where he is described as having “years of experience, commercial nous and a healthy dose of common sense”. Chambers & Partners 2026 ranks Kevin as a notable practitioner. Kevin has been profiled in Lawyer's Weekly as one of the "senior heavyweights in media law". He is on the Committee of the Communication and Media Lawyers Association and the Media Communications Committee of the Law Council of Australia. Kevin’s publications include articles in LexisNexis Internet Law Bulletin and Privacy Law Bulletin, and the Communications Law Bulletin. He presented a paper on 'Libel Tourism' at the New York State Bar Association Fall Conference and has acted as Chair of the Legalwise Annual Media Law Conference since 2020. Kevin is a regular commentator on legal issues in The AFR, The Australian, the ABC and Sky News. Kevin is recognised as a Leading lawyer in the area of Defamation & Reputation Management in the 2026 Doyle’s Guide rankings (Australia-wide).


Professor Mimi Zou, Head of School of Private and Commercial Law, Faculty of Law and Justice, UNSW Sydney
Her research focuses on private & commercial law issues arising from AI and blockchain and the regulation of these new technologies. Prior to joining UNSW, she held senior positions at top universities worldwide, including the Chair in Commercial Law at the University of Exeter, UK and the first-ever Fellowship in Chinese Law at the University of Oxford. She also founded and led Oxford’s first lawtech research and innovation lab. She received the Global Australian Award for Technology in 2024.


Greg Duffy, Partner, Frankel Lawyers
Greg Duffy started as an employed Solicitor with Michael Frankel & Co. Solicitors in 1993. With the inception of Frankel Lawyers he commenced as a Partner with Michael Frankel and Raena Lea-Shannon in 2005. He specialises in Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law, particularly in the areas of Film, Television, Literature, Theatre, New Media and Trademarks. Much of his time is spent on development agreements, financing, production and distribution related legal issues and he has a depth of experience in film, television, employment and defamation litigation in the Federal Court, the Supreme, District and Local Courts of New South Wales, and the Fair Work Commission of Australia.


Stephen Garofano, Director of Policy, Screen Producers Australia
Stephen leads SPA’s policy, strategic advocacy, and government relations functions. Stephen has extensive experience in public policy across regulated industries, including telecommunications and financial services. Stephen also spent several years in private practice at Gilbert + Tobin, in its disputes and investigations team.


Carolyn Lidgerwood, Authority Lead, Australian Communications and Media Authority
Carolyn Lidgerwood was appointed as a full time Authority Member of the Australian Communications and Media Authority in September 2023.   Carolyn is the Authority Lead for Content and also for Gambling and for Compliance & Enforcement.   Carolyn has worked in leading organisations for more than 30 years, specialising in broadcasting and data privacy law and compliance. Immediately prior to being appointed as an ACMA Authority Member, Carolyn was for 12 years the Head of Privacy at Rio Tinto, the world's second-largest mining and metals corporation. Carolyn was also General Counsel & Company Secretary at Southern Cross Media (then Australia’s largest regional commercial radio and commercial television broadcaster), and Special Counsel at Gilbert + Tobin Lawyers, where for more than 10 years she acted for clients in every part of the Australian broadcasting industry. In the early years of her career Carolyn worked at the former Australian Broadcasting Authority (joining the ABA on the same week that subscription television services commenced in Australia). Carolyn holds honours degrees in Arts and Law from the University of Melbourne.