What kinds of rights disputes come up in film, TV, and content deals?

Rights acquisition and licensing disputes are among the most common entertainment matters, and they span film, television, music, literary, and digital content. Typical flashpoints include disagreements over the scope of rights granted (did a license cover streaming, or only broadcast?), reserved rights such as sequel, remake, and prequel rights, territory and term limits, and whether a grant of “all media now known or hereafter devised” reaches platforms that did not exist when the contract was signed. Because these disputes turn on the precise language of the grant, they are well suited to mediation, where the parties and a neutral can work through the contract clause by clause rather than litigate the meaning of a single sentence for years.