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Media & Entertainment Law · Mumbai

Reel&Verse

Contracts for creators, studios and rights-holders.

A Mumbai entertainment-law studio for film, streaming, music and live — from term sheet to final cut, and every clearance in between.

15+ yrsAt the Mumbai bar & in-house
Film · Music · OTTRetained across the value chain
Deal + clearanceHandled under one roof

Where the deal meets the craft

A boutique practice for the people who make the work — and the ones who own it.

Reel & Verse Legal drafts, negotiates and clears the agreements behind film, streaming, music and live entertainment across Mumbai and India. Founded by counsel who spent 15+ years at the Mumbai bar and inside studios and labels.

We read a call sheet as fluently as a term sheet. That means faster clearances, cleaner chain-of-title, and deals that hold up long after the premiere.

The docket

Five clauses that cover
a creative business.

One desk for the whole lifecycle of a title — commissioned, financed, made, cleared and exploited. No hand-offs, no gaps in the paperwork.

Film crew operating a cinema camera on a city street during a shoot

§ 01   Production & Licensing

From green-light to delivery.

We paper the whole production — development through delivery — so financiers, broadcasters and platforms sign without friction.

  • Option & script agreements
  • Producer & LP deals
  • Co-production treaties
  • OTT & distribution licensing
  • Format & remake rights
  • Chain-of-title
Condenser microphones arranged in a warm-lit recording studio

§ 02   Music, Talent & Labels

The people and the publishing.

Deals for artists, actors, writers, labels and creators — the ones that decide who gets paid, credited and controlled.

  • Artist & talent contracts
  • Record & 360 deals
  • Publishing & sync
  • Endorsements & brand tie-ins
  • Creator & influencer deals
  • Moral rights

§ 03   Copyright & IP

Own your catalogue.

Registration, assignment and enforcement of the rights your whole business is built on.

  • Copyright & TM filing
  • Assignment & licence structuring
  • Neighbouring rights
  • Anti-piracy & takedowns

§ 04   Clearances & Compliance

Cleared to release.

Script, title, music and footage cleared before you lock picture — with an E&O file broadcasters trust.

  • Script & title clearance
  • Music & archive clearance
  • E&O readiness
  • Certification support

§ 05   Deals & Disputes

When it gets contested.

Slate financing, and the quiet, decisive handling of the disputes that tend to follow a hit.

  • Slate & film financing
  • Cease-and-desist
  • IP arbitration
  • Defamation & privacy

Clearances

Cleared before you
lock picture.

The unglamorous checklist that keeps a release on schedule. We run it early, close it fast, and hand your platform an E&O file they'll actually accept.

  • 01Run early. We open clearance in prep, not post — so nothing forces a re-edit the week of delivery.
  • 02One file, every gatekeeper. Platforms, broadcasters and insurers get a single, defensible clearance record.
  • 03Certification-ready. Support through certification and platform review without last-minute surprises.
Clearance runsheet In prep
  • Script & story clearance read
  • Title search & availability clear
  • Music & sync licences logged
  • Stock, archive & footage sourced
  • Trademarks, logos & brands vetted
  • Talent & location releases signed
  • E&O sign-off ready

How we work

From term sheet
to signature.

Brief & structure

We map the deal, the rights and the risks — in a free initial consultation.

Draft & negotiate

Tight first drafts, then negotiation that protects your position without stalling the shoot.

Clear & sign off

Clearances closed and E&O readied so financiers and platforms commit.

Deliver & vault

Executed documents, chain-of-title and a rights vault you can actually find later.

A professional signing agreements at a desk in a Mumbai office
Reel & Verse Legal — Kamala Mills, Lower Parel, Mumbai

The practice

Small firm.
Big-picture counsel.

Two partners, a tight team, and the kind of attention a boutique gives that a full-service firm can't. You work with the people whose names are on the door.

Aparna Rele

Managing Partner

15+ years at the Mumbai bar, formerly in business affairs at a leading studio. Leads production, licensing and disputes.

Kabir Sethna

Partner — Music & Rights

Former label counsel. Runs music, publishing, talent and clearance work for artists and rights-holders.

  • Streaming platforms
  • Film studios
  • Record labels
  • Artist management
  • Ad agencies
  • Publishers
  • Live & events
  • Gaming

In their words

“They read a call sheet as fluently as a term sheet — clearances closed before we even asked.”
Head of Business Affairs  /  a Mumbai streaming studio
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Free initial consultation

Let's paper the
deal properly.

Tell us about the project — a film, a slate, a signing, a festival cut. We'll tell you what needs clearing and what needs signing.