Michael Schmittmann Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek

Mr Schmittmann is a partner in Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek, lawyers and tax advisers, Düsseldorf, Germany.

Michael Schmittmann attended the law school at Cologne (1977 to 1979, 1980 to 1983), and Geneva (1979 to 1980); the British Institute of International and Comparative Law in London (1980); the International Law Institute, Georgetown University, Washington DC (1988). From 1987 to 1989 he worked as a consultant in Directorate III of the European Commission (internal market/harmonisation of law) in Brussels.

Mr Schmittmann has been in professional practice in Düsseldorf since 1989, with emphasis on telecommunications and IT, broadcasting and entertainment law. He also has expertise in national and EC competition law.

Mr Schmittmann has represented prestigious broadcasters in Germany and on EU level as well as many national and international telecommunications licence applicants, including successful bidders during the UMTS auction in Germany in 2000, WLL frequency bidders in 1999 and DVB-T applicants in 2005/2006. Furthermore, he has been involved in the German cable market particularly in copyright matters.

He is the leading expert in satellite matters due to longstanding client relationships with various satellite operators and investors in that area over the past years, namely EUTELSAT and its German subsidiaries.

Mr Schmittmann's emphasis is on regulatory work as well as sector advice in connection with business transactions in the area of communications and the annexed, now converging, markets such as mobile TV and IPTV with an emphasis on copyright law. In 2015 he is advising Burda Media in building up an IPTV/OTT platform enlarging the market leading German APP/EPG "TV-Spielfilm" from a programme guide to a live TV bouquet in the internet.

His latest field of work is the legal elaboration of European and international concepts for clients in the gaming and betting industry when expanding their national business online into other countries or accessing the German market which is highly regulated. The Heuking "Task Force Gaming & Betting Law" is acting for a number of national and international clients in the license/concession issuing process organized by the Federal State of Hesse on behalf of all 16 German Federal States in 2014/2015.

Mr Schmittmann is head of the IP, Media & Technology group of Heuking Kühn (www.heuking.de) which has been awarded the title "IT Law Firm of the Year 2014" by JUVE. He is a lecturer of European media law at the University of Hanover. Since 2011 editor of the first series of publications on European Gambling Law in the German language (Verlag Medien & Recht, Wien/München).