David is a lawyer, public affairs advocate, and licensing specialist with outstanding diplomatic ability. He has worked for over 25 years in roles throughout the international music, video games and audiovisual sectors. For the past 15 years David has been at the cutting edge of creativity and law in key public policy/legal roles in video games, the industry which has met the challenge of combining new technology with cutting edge content with the greatest success. He has also become an expert on Digital Health and now manages global games industry activities in the area, including facilitating gold standard research at the University of Oxford and other respected colleges. He founded and served as CEO to Games Ireland in Dublin serving on the Irish government's games task force. He designed a tax credit for game production which has been introduced. He represents and advises Irish film and TV directors and helped conclude a new industrywide rights agreement. He drafted the PEGI/PEGI Online Safety Code for the rating of games. He has represented major international entertainment and software industries at the institutions of the United Nations, including the WHO, WTO and WIPO and also at the OECD. Clients have included the European Commission, U.S. Copyright Office, ESA, EA, Nintendo, Bertelsmann, Microsoft, Warner, Sony, Disney, Universal, Vivendi, Activision, King, Supercell and global TV licensing body AGICOA. He was Senior Legal Counsel to the European Game Federation ISFE and global Content Rating Body PEGI/IARC. He was VP/General Counsel Europe for the Motion Picture Association, Senior Counsel at music trade body IFPI, Head of EU Public Policy for Universal Music and Studios and outside counsel to Warner Music and worked on aspects of the AOL Time Warner merger and EMI Music and MTV Europe EU anti-trust cases. David runs Sweeney Consulting, an international consultancy providing information on, and representation to, European Union institutions and national governments as well as advising creators. His early career as a professional musician and songwriter laid the foundation for his understanding of media, creativity and entertainment. Specialties: People, diplomacy, leadership and inspiration, digital health, WHO, research/industry liaison with academia, IP, regulatory affairs, video games, contracts, film/tv, music, public policy/campaign & event management, communications, rights management/collective licensing, AI, state aid, tax, data protection, analytics, content rating, trade associations, communications, public affairs.
Listed skills include Intellectual Property, Copyright Law, Entertainment Law, Public Policy, and 19 others.
