Popular podcast approved as continuing legal training

Gorrissen Federspiel’s podcast “Entertainmentretten” (Entertainment Law) has seen a rise in popularity since it premiered in the spring of 2021. Not least thanks to a great review in the Danish newspaper Politiken in the autumn. At the same time, the podcast, which focuses on regulation of the entertainment industry, was also approved as digital continuing legal training.

The hosts of the podcast, Managing Counsel Jakob Plesner Mathiasen from Gorrissen Federspiel and law professor Morten Rosenmeier, had a productive 2022, producing 15 episodes of their podcast and a total of 13 listening hours.

Along the way, the hosts have addressed issues about the lawfulness of portraying the Little Mermaid as a zombie wearing a face mask and whether AI-generated works can qualify for protection, and the podcast’s Christmas special featured the controversial AI chatbot ChatGPT.

“The development in the field of entertainment law is evolving at an extremely fast pace. Just think about how the development in AI took off in late 2022. In the podcast, we’ve been able to focus on key issues and take the listeners through both the legal and technological development,” says Jakob Plesner Mathiasen.

Newspaper review

The podcast about entertainment law is a niche media. But from the beginning, the hosts wanted the podcast to appeal not only to the obvious listeners – lawyers and professionals in the entertainment industry. Fortunately, satire editor of Politiken, Mads Zacho Teglskov, came across the podcast one day and became a listener. In his newspaper, he wrote an enthusiastic review:

“Here is an example to follow when making highly specialised knowledge accessible to even the most ordinary Bryan Ferry listener. (…) There is something delightfully enthusiastic and playful about the hosts, media and entertainment specialist Jakob Plesner and the above-named professor Rosenmeier, who have an answer to almost everything.”

The review introduced the podcast to a wider audience, and this was reflected in the listener interest.

“We are deeply grateful for the review. Our aim was to bring the podcast to a wider audience by addressing rather complex issues in a way that makes them easily accessible to listeners, and preferably in an entertaining way. The review speeded up this process,” says Jakob Plesner Mathiasen.

The podcast was born out of Jakob Plesner Mathiasen’s own enthusiasm for the podcast medium and his passion to share knowledge and famous cases from the area.

“Entertainment law is something we all encounter every day, even if we don’t realise it. Film, music, computer games and sports are core areas of entertainment law. It’s a pleasure to share that passion with other likeminded people,” says Jakob Plesner Mathiasen, who –when he is not a podcast host – advises clients on legal issues that arise in the entertainment industry.

Selected podcast guests in 2022

TopGunn (Oliver Gammelgaard)

– producer, songwriter and artist

TopGunn has been a permanent part of the Danish music scene since the late 00’s, and in 2014 one of his songs was the most streamed song on Spotify in Denmark.

Maria Fredenslund

– attorney and CEO of the Danish Rights Alliance

Attorney specialising in IP law and CEO of the interest group the Danish Rights Alliance, representing more than 100,000 Danish rights holders in the creative industry.

Tobias Lindholm

– screenwriter and director

Tobias Lindholm is one of the most successful Danish screenwriters and directors and is the prime force behind several feature films like “R”, “A Hijacking” and “A War”. In 2020, he won an Oscar when he co-wrote the screenplay for the film “Another Round” with Thomas Vinterberg.

The podcast also features guests from the industry. Other experts, musicians and filmmakers who bring first-hand experience and knowledge from their careers in the creative industries.

Approved as continuing legal training

In addition to the praise in one of the country’s largest daily newspapers, the podcast received another recognition when the Danish Bar and Law Society in the autumn approved the podcast as digital continuing legal training for attorneys who provide legal services in entertainment law. By listening to selected episodes and subsequently completing a digital test, the podcast may serve as continuing mandatory training.

“We have a strong focus on ensuring that the podcast also has to serve as continuing training. We are therefore very pleased that the Danish Bar and Law Society embraces the digital development and includes podcasts in the continuing training. In a busy workday, it allows attorneys to easily keep up with the latest developments and at the same time achieve their mandatory continuing training.”

New territory

The popularity of the podcast continues to grow in the new year. The hosts have already produced the firsts live episodes in front of an audience. In May 2023, Plesner and Rosenmeier will participate in the SPOT festival in Aarhus and host a feature on music rights.

“In 2023, we’ll be setting the bar even higher in terms of what we can do with the podcast medium. We can’t wait to tell our listeners about all the interesting things we’ve planned for the podcast. It’s going to be fantastic,” says Jakob Plesner Mathiasen.