This Article was first published in Media Law International 2017. In it Joby Beretta of The Bench looks back at the developments in the UAE media sector over the last 12 months. The UAE media industry has been surfing a wave of recent success and sustained growth driven in part by the local film funds and government initiatives such as rebate schemes. It has however also had its own challenges in terms of piracy, consolidation and evolving to meet the changing consumer trend

Media Law International (MLI) is the exclusive guide to leading media law firms around the world. The publication provides comprehensive coverage of firms and practitioners with media law expertise, across 56 jurisdictions. The 2017 edition has just been released and The Bench is now ranked in Tier 2 alongside global law firms DLA and Simmons & Simmons and ahead of the likes of Allen & Overy, Bird & Bird and Dentons. MLI commented: Established in 2016, The Bench specialises

Here in the MENA region we spend on average 10.9 hours a day consuming media and around 41% of that is digital (Arab Media Report 2013-2016). Time spent with traditional media such as books, newspapers and magazines are showing a decrease as highlighted by the recent sad demise of 7DAYS, the UAE newspaper, in Dec 2016. As companies shift their advertising budgets from traditional to digital, it is important to remind ourselves of the applicable laws, which we summarise be

The Bench Boosts its Media Law Team The Bench FZE today announced it has welcomed media law specialist, Charlotte Holden, to its team of legal consultants. Joby Beretta, Executive Director of The Bench said, "We are elated that Charlotte has decided to join The Bench. Her practice aligns perfectly with our core focus on the Technology, Media and Telecom (TMT) sector. Her extensive UAE media expertise, especially in content regulation, content licensing and media production