Dr. jur. Martin Schaefer
Attorney at Law (Germany), admitted at the European Trade Mark Office, Partner, Berlin
studied Law in Saarbrücken and Berlin and began his career as assistant to his mentor, Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Nordemann.
From the beginning of the 1990s, Martin Schaefer was employed by the German national group of the recording industry association, IFPI, (Bundesverband der Phonographischen Wirtschaft und Deutsche Landesgruppe der IFPI). As in-house counsel, and from 1998 as Managing Director, Martin Schaefer was responsible for such areas as combating piracy, representing industry interests in the making of government copyright policy, and the development of future oriented industry projects. In 2001, he moved to BMG (Bertelsmann Music Group) as Vice President, Legal Counsel Europe. In this position, he was integrated into the European management team before leaving the company at the beginning of 2004 to apply his knowledge and experience as a lawyer at BOEHMERT & BOEHMERT.
Martin Schaefer works primarily in the field of intellectual property, including copyright contract law (particularly in the fields of music, literature, visual arts, science, software, games). Music industry matters and collective and individual administration of rights form a key part of his work. This includes, in particular, the law concerning collecting societies (e.g. in GEMA and ZPÜ matters) and collecting agencies (e.g. their dissociation from collecting societies). He also frequently advises on matters involving provider liability, data privacy laws, electronic media law and trademark law.
Martin Schaefer advises and represents numerous companies and associations from the media and music industry on developing industrial property right strategies, for instance. He represents his clients in court and before the arbitration board for copyright litigation matters. He also advises them on how they can protect their interests in copyright policy, however, as well as on the development of pioneering projects related to intellectual property law.
Martin Schaefer is an elected member of the board of ALAI Deutschland, an elected member of GRUR’s expert committee for copyright law, and chairman of the advisory board of the German Music Archive housed at the German National Library. He also sits on the scientific advisory board of the “Zeitschrift für Urheber- und Medienrecht” (Journal of Copyright and Media Law), and is a member of the Copyright Society of the USA.
Martin Schaefer has published numerous articles on copyright matters in journals and commemorative publications; he is also the co-author of the “Fromm/Nordemann” copyright commentary, as well as “Wandtke/Bullinger: Praxiskommentar zum Urheberrecht” (Wandtke/Bullinger: Practical Commentary on Copyright Law) and “Moser/Scheuermann: Handbuch der Musikwirtschaft” (Moser/Scheuermann: Media Industry Handbook).
JUVE Handbuch 2011/2012 frequently lists him as a highly recommended lawyer for press and publishing law, as well as for contract and copyright law. The Legal 500 Germany 2010 particulary recommends Martin Schaefer in the Media Entertainment category.
E-Mail: Dr. jur. Martin Schaefer
