Christophe Masse

With more than 25 years of practice, Christophe Masse is a lawyer and manager with extensive experience in commercial law, and a recognized expertise in intellectual property, technology and entertainment law.

Over the course of his career, he has worked with some of the biggest players in the telecommunications industry at both regional and national levels, including CBC/Radio-Canada and Quebecor Media Group. In this context, he managed all legal and contractual aspects of several large-scale projects, including the drafting and negotiation of a variety of intellectual property and technology contracts. These included audio and audiovisual content licenses with producers, publishers and copyright collectives, software licenses, IT services agreements, and trademark and patent licenses.

With strong negotiating skills, Christophe also advises clients on all types of commercial matters, including partnership, distribution, acquisition and production contracts. His expertise and strategic vision, combined with his strong interest in innovation and process optimization, make him a valuable ally.

Prior to joining Delegatus, Christophe worked at CBC/Radio-Canada for over 15 years as Senior Legal Counsel and Head of the Copyright Department. In these roles, he advised various sectors of the company across Canada in a wide range of legal and business situations, including the management of intellectual property and the development of new services and platforms. He has drafted and negotiated various types of legal documents, led the negotiation of framework agreements and the industrial relations with various artistic associations, and managed litigation and arbitration files.

Christophe was also manager of the Canadian Retransmission Rights Association (CRRA), the corporation that administers the retransmission rights of the radio and television channels of the largest Canadian and U.S. broadcasters, including CBC/SRC, ABC, CBS, NBC and Télé-Québec. He has managed all strategic and legal aspects of the company, and acts as a point of contact with key executives of member broadcasters and other management companies.

Previously, he was legal counsel at Loto-Québec, Quebecor Media Group, Copibec (Société québécoise de gestion collective des droits de reproduction), then Competition Law Officer in the Legislative Affairs Department of the Competition Bureau of Canada.

• Negotiated licensing and distribution agreements with various players in the Canadian and foreign entertainment industry.
• Responsible for all legal aspects of the launch of various innovative platforms (Tou.tv, OHdio, Curio, Mauril).
• Managed litigation and arbitration before various courts, including the Copyright Board.
• Managed the Copyright Licensing Department, a team of 7 people responsible for clearing rights for CBC’s in-house productions and for their distribution.
• Negotiated collective bargaining agreements governing artists’ working conditions in audio-visual productions (UDA, SARTEC, AFM).
• Managed all strategic and legal aspects of CRRA, with an annual budget of over $10 million. Generated a 20% increase in the association’s annual revenues.