In the age of streaming, intellectual property is the new oil. Creative endeavors like movies or TV shows that are popular overseas can be extremely profitable, but exporting them is just as complicated as shipping goods across continents, if not more. Before a British-made show like Peaky Blinders can appear on the screens of viewers worldwide, there are a lot of bureaucratic boxes to check and a lot of legal hoops to jump through.

Let’s take a look behind the curtain and discuss some preparatory activities that fans rarely think about but that must be completed in order for a franchise to be legally exported.

Signing Distribution Contracts for Every Market

The first step in going international is finding a distributing partner with the right coverage. The company that owns the UK franchise must enter a contractual relationship with the distributors for each market, which can get pretty complex pretty soon. While such contracts are typically standard, there is a lot of fine print to pay attention to and a lot of scenarios to foresee. That means months of work for the lawyers as well as media company managers, who need to make sure they don’t leave the door open for a potentially troubling development. More recently, content publishers are gravitating towards large platforms with global distribution reach such as Netflix or HBO in part due to simpler logistics, but signing away rights to all markets at once comes with its own set of challenges.

Ensuring Fair Splitting of Revenues

There are so many stakeholders in the making and marketing of every media franchise that keeping everyone happy can be tricky. Since international distribution is one of the most significant sources of revenue, getting it right is simply imperative. Of course, every side will pull for its own interests so getting a contract that is both fair and sustainable in the long run becomes a matter of skilful negotiation. Even for a successful show, it can be difficult to ensure funding for continued production while also letting the initial investors get paid. In case some of the actors are entitled to a share of the box office, the calculations only become more delicate.

Defining a Dispute Resolution Mechanism

A good distribution agreement needs to cover all situations. To avoid lengthy court battles for minor disagreements, the parties should adopt a mutually respected dispute resolution method that saves time and money. The legal team for the UK entity needs to be well briefed on the rules applying in the countries where the content will be broadcast, and prepared to deal with lawsuits related to a number of things ranging from cultural norms to taxes. This may be a drain on resources, but it’s still preferable to getting stuck in a legal proceeding in an overseas jurisdiction. Being proactive is the better way, but in some cases the foreign partner might simply have more leverage to get his preferred mechanism.

Translating All the Supporting Documentation

One of the most tedious and time-inefficient parts of the job is ensuring that all documentation is available in the relevant languages. That wouldn’t be too hard if translation was all it was required, but translated documents also need to be confirmed as authentic. For this reason, media franchises need the help of a UK apostille company to support their international expansion.A trivial mistake in this regard could delay the launch of a new season of a popular TV show for months, so it makes far more sense to hire professionals to handle the translations than to risk financial and reputational losses.