BM Nyman & Co

Although a lot of my clients are involved, in one way or another, in the business of Publishing, I also welcome clients in these areas (among others):

Film/TV/Video

Are you an author who who is looking to take your work into the field of film or TV or video? Or have you been offered a contract with a media organisation, maybe as a presenter, for example?

Merchandising

Are you a writer or publisher of books featuring characters that could be developed further to have an independent life of their own, earning you a stream of passive income? You will need to ensure that the Intellectual Property rights are properly protected before you can licence them to others.

Media

Are you in a business where you communicate with the public in one way or another? If so, whether you realise it or not, you are in the "media", and could be affected by all or any of the areas of law I deal with -- Publishing, Intellectual Property, Defamation, Privacy, Contracts.

Information Technology

Is your business online? Does your website comply with legal requirements? Are you taking on a new IT software package for your business, and do you understand the supplier's contract? Are you a programmer/developer looking to license your software to third parties?

Charges

For some types of work, for example drafting a standard contract, I will quote a fixed fee, as long as I have sufficiently clear instructions.

Otherwise, I generally charge according to the amount of time spent in dealing with your matter.  I rarely know in advance how many hours will be needed to complete a matter, but at any stage, I am happy to give you an estimate of the likely time involved and the anticipated course of the matter. I generally bill on a monthly basis, so that you can keep control of your budget and have the costs spread over the length of time of your matter.

Bernie Nyman's CV at a glance:

Law firms I have worked for:

• I qualified as a solicitor in March 1979.
• Assistant Solicitor with Rubinstein Callingham 1979-83.
• Partner in Rubinstein Callingham 1983-94.
• Partner in Manches & Co October 1994 – December 1998.
• Sole Principal of B M Nyman & Co January 1999 - date
• Consultant to Manches January 1999 – December 2001

Publications I have written or to which I have contributed:

• Author of the Copyright section of The Encyclopaedia of Forms and Precedents Volume 21 Fifth Edition (Butterworths, 1991).
• Author of the (completely revised) Copyright section of The Encyclopaedia of Forms and Precedents Volume 21(2) Fifth Edition Re-issue (Butterworths, 1999).
• Specialist Contributor of section on the Publishing industry in the leading practitioners' work on Copyright, Copinger and Skone James on Copyright 14th Edition (Sweet & Maxwell, 1999 and 1st Supplement January 2002) and 15th edition (Sweet & Maxwell, 2005).
• Contributor to Character Merchandising by Prof. John Adams 2nd Edition (Butterworths, 1996).

Independent recommendations:

• Recommended as an expert on publishing law in The Legal 500 and in The Chambers Guide to the Legal Profession every single year since 1994 and 1995 respectively.

Charitable work:

• I was a trustee of the charity The Enid Blyton Trust for Children from 2000 to 2008.
• I am a trustee of the charity The Cleft Lip and Palate Association (appointed 2003).