ENTERTAINMENT
& MEDIA LAW

Jeff Young is a prominent Vancouver entertainment lawyer with fiercely loyal clients and decades of experience, having worked on everything from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The New Addams Family and Breaker High in the 1990s to serving as the first-ever Olympic digital rights lawyer during the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games to helping clients of all sizes manage intellectual property rights in a rapidly evolving technology and information landscape. He also acted as the Director of Contracts and Chief Negotiator for the Union of BC Performers, served on the board of the Whistler Film Festival, and acted as the secretary to the Screen Composers Guild of Canada. During a legal career that has spanned more than 35 years, he has gained a wealth of knowledge that allows him to truly tailor his legal advice to each client.

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Early in his career, Jeff spent 10 years practicing corporate and real estate law, during which time he acted as counsel on one of the largest business immigration cases in Canada. The case ultimately won at the Supreme Court of Canada, and not long after Jeff made the switch to entertainment. This reflects his life-long love of the entertainment industry, which is unsurprising since he's also a film composer and music producer. He loves helping other creatives bring their visions to life.

 

Whether helping with a first option agreement, representing Grammy- and Oscar-winning clients, or negotiating with major entertainment and media corporations including Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Virgin, BMG, ABC/Disney, Sony, 20th Century Fox, Paramount and Warner/Chappell, Jeff takes the time to fully understand and respond to each unique legal situation. ​​He is passionate about helping all of his clients understand their legal rights, and speaks widely at industry events such as EXNW and VAFF. He has taught film law and new media law at UBC and BCIT, was the founding head of the Entertainment Business Management Diploma Program at VFS, and is currently an Adjunct Professor teaching entertainment law and intellectual property at the UVic Law School.