Law · Strategy · Image
Specialists in the value of intangibles. Since 2004, we have fused law, strategy, and image to protect, scale, and project the creative and technological ecosystem.
01 / Purpose
Purpose and Vision
We help companies, institutions, brands, and professionals grow securely within the knowledge economy. We know that the true value of modern organizations no longer resides in physical assets, but in their intangible assets: a cultural legacy, a brand identity, proprietary technology, or a unique aesthetic value proposition.
Therefore, since 2004, we have dedicated ourselves to integrating business strategy, legal protection (or: legal safeguarding), and brand projection under one roof.
With more than 20 years of experience, we integrate legal engineering, asset auditing, and strategic brand management. We prevent you from having to fragment your needs. With us, your assets are audited to determine their true value, registered globally with the utmost legal rigor, and managed under the framework of Legal Brand Management to guarantee their commercial projection and defense.
02 / Sectors
Sectors
We do not apply traditional corporate formulas; we design tailored solutions for industries that thrive on originality, culture, technology, and entertainment.
We advise:
01 Creators, Artists, and Entertainment
Musicians, composers, writers, screenwriters, visual artists, illustrators, as well as audiovisual production companies, event promoters, festivals, and performing arts companies requiring copyright management, licensing, publishing contracts, and the safeguarding of their intellectual property—everything encompassed within Entertainment Law.
02 Art, Museums, and Foundations
Cultural institutions, private and corporate foundations, museums, galleries, and collectors requiring specialized counsel in heritage management, patronage, and the protection of legacies; we are specialists in Art Law (Art and Cultural Heritage Law).
03 New Media and Digital Environment
Influencers, content creators, podcasters, streamers, gamers, digital talent representation agencies, and projects based on digital art or Web3 seeking to monetize and protect their image rights and trademarks.
04 Startups and Franchise Models
Technology-based emerging companies (Createch/Fintech) seeking to structure their business model, raise capital, and protect their software, as well as established businesses expanding their success through the secure replication of their know-how and brand.
05 Digital Transformation and Artificial Intelligence
Organizations adopting AI into their creative or commercial processes that require a strategic and legal framework to mitigate reputational risks and secure their rights against new technological challenges.
06 Creative and Design Industries
Advertising agencies, architecture studios, branding, interior design, and fashion firms leading the market through aesthetics and corporate identity—everything related to Fashion Law.
07 Video Games (E-sports, Metaverse, and Development)
Cross-licensing of intellectual property; development agreements; Metaverse regulatory compliance; E-sports sponsorships.
03 / Services
Practice Areas
We are the strategic allies who transform your talent, your culture, and your innovation into secure assets.
We translate legal, strategic, and communication complexities into simple, secure, and profitable solutions. We take care of safeguarding your business so that your only concern is to create, innovate, and grow.
Our specialized services are structured around five core areas of action
I Intellectual Property Audit and Strategic Planning
Our intangible asset audits and strategic plans will allow you to identify which intellectual property assets you own, determine their value, and learn how to manage and protect them.
We provide a comprehensive service by handling the entirety of their management and protection, aiming for maximum profitability.
The core of your value: your ideas and creations are our specialty, and we help you ensure that no one misappropriates what belongs to you.
- Intellectual Property Audit (Due Diligence): Legal diagnostics to identify, inventory, and catalog intellectual capital. Critical risk analysis and valuation of trademarks, patents, etc., ahead of investment rounds or licensing agreements.
- We develop specific strategic plans for your intangible assets, handling the registration and protection of your distinctive signs: registration of trademarks, trade names, and designs at national, European, and international levels, seeking maximum protection and profitability; we protect your copyright related to your corporate and creative scope; from artworks, musical compositions, books, scripts, and fashion designs, to exhibition catalogs, software, and video games, among others, to manage and monetize all your intangible capital in the short, medium, and long term.
II Technology Transfer and Exploitation of Intellectual Property
We structure robust agreements ensuring you receive fair compensation, retain your rights, and avoid future disputes. We draft the appropriate legal instruments for the commercial exploitation, licensing, and transfer of intangible assets, mitigating operational risks and maximizing the return on innovation.
- Creative Sector Contracts: Drafting and negotiation of music and literary publishing contracts, audiovisual production contracts, talent representation, exhibitions, and sponsorship or cultural patronage agreements, as well as any others related to the creative industry.
- Advertising and Image Rights Law: Image rights assignment contracts for influencers, gamers, youtubers, models, actors, etc.; auditing of advertising campaigns to prevent sanctions for misleading advertising.
- Trade Secrets and Transfer of Know-How: Drafting of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), protection protocols for industrial secrets, and non-patented technical knowledge transfer contracts to protect your ideas against investors, competitors, or collaborators.
III Legal Brand Management: Distinctive Signs and Creations
In today’s economy, the success of your business directly depends on the strength, reputation, and safeguarding of your commercial identity. However, managing a modern brand goes far beyond designing a logo or processing a basic registration. It requires a cross-cutting vision that connects marketing, business growth, and preventive legal defense.
Through our Legal Brand Management service, we become the strategic ally that accompanies your brand across every phase of its lifecycle, ensuring that every commercial step is backed by absolute legal protection.
We offer you continuous legal support in brand positioning strategy, governance, and commercial expansion. Active monitoring against counterfeiting, infringements in digital environments, and preventive legal defense of reputational assets.
IV Legal Engineering for Startups and Franchises
We support the growth of scalable business models, ensuring that their legal structure supports commercial success.
- Startup Structuring: Shareholders’ agreements, advisory services for funding rounds, and legal protection for software development, Web3 platforms, and apps (UX/UI).
- Franchise Expansion: Drafting of master franchise agreements, safeguarding and transfer of know-how through operating manuals, and brand image protection across the corporate network.
- Governance of Museums and Foundations: Incorporation of foundations, legal structuring of donations and bequests, and regulatory compliance for cultural institutions.
V Digital Compliance, Artificial Intelligence, and Contingency Management
We guarantee legal certainty within the technological ecosystem by implementing regulatory prevention systems and mitigating operational risks derived from digital transformation.
- Artificial Intelligence Audit and Compliance: Design and implementation of corporate policies and governance protocols for the integration of AI systems into productive and creative processes; ensuring indemnification against third-party intellectual property rights and structuring protection strategies for resulting works generated or optimized by technology.
- Digital Law and Privacy Governance: Comprehensive regulatory alignment for web platforms and e-commerce business models; drafting and structuring of general terms and conditions, and auditing for strict compliance with the RGPD and digital services regulations.
- Contingency Management and Reputational Defense: Legal counsel and design of strategies against critical breaches of intangible assets (plagiarism, corporate defamation, and unfair competition in digital environments); as well as the legal coordination and institutional communication framework in response to data breaches that compromise brand value.
04 / The Firm
The Firm
Carlos Francisco López Abadín. Founder and CEO of ARTELEY
“I view business law as a strategic tool, not as a reactive formality. I know that innovation and corporate creativity require equally creative legal management. Therefore, I design tailored strategies that anticipate digital risks, safeguard your creations, and transform your intangible assets into secure, solid, and scalable competitive advantages.”
Professional Background and Specialization
In 2004, he founded ARTELEY, a legal, strategic, and brand consultancy specialized in the creative sector, where he has served as Director since its inception, leading a multidisciplinary team of collaborators.
He has been a practicing attorney admitted to the Illustrious Malaga Bar Association (Ilustre Colegio de Abogados de Málaga) since 1995. He holds a Diploma of Advanced Studies (DEA) from the Doctoral Program in Private Law Institutions within the Civil Law Department of the School of Law at the University of Malaga, and is a University Expert in Aesthetic Theory and Contemporary Art from the Department of Aesthetics and Art Theory at the University of Malaga.
He provides counsel on intellectual property, industrial property, and image rights to the Pablo Ruiz Picasso Foundation (Fundación Pablo Ruiz Picasso), currently Agencia Pública para la Gestión de la Casa Natal de Pablo Ruiz Picasso y otros equipamientos museísticos y culturales. He has developed strategic management plans regarding the “Malaga” brand and its intellectual and industrial property for the Tourism Department and the Mayor’s Office of the City Council of Malaga (Excmo. Ayuntamiento de Málaga).
In 2007, he co-founded and co-directed LEGAL STUDIO, SPAIN-JAPAN, a Spanish-Japanese consultancy specialized in intellectual property, industrial property, and image rights, providing legal counsel to various institutions, including JETRO Madrid (Japan External Trade Organization).
He has participated in numerous conferences and seminars across diverse forums, such as the International Seminar on Art and Law of the Malaga Bar Association, the San Telmo School of Art, the Master’s Degree in Intellectual Property at the Complutense University of Madrid, the Municipal Historical Archive of Malaga, the Picasso Museum Malaga, the Bar Associations of Paris and Barcelona, the Andalusia Technology Park (PTA), the Malaga Chamber of Commerce, the School of Computer Science at the University of Malaga, and the Patent Information Fair at the Science Museum (Marunouchi) in Tokyo, Japan, among others.
In 2023, he directed the Art and Law Seminar (Picasso Anniversary Edition) as Coordinator of the Art and Law Section of the Culture Commission of the Malaga Bar Association, in collaboration with the Barcelona Bar Association, the Paris Bar Association (Avocats Barreau de Paris), and the A Coruña Bar Association.
He has published numerous papers and articles in journals such as Copyright Magazine, OCS (Overseas Courier Service de España)—a Japanese magazine in Spain—Noticias de España (a publication of the Spanish-Japanese Chamber of Commerce), and Miramar magazine of the Illustrious Malaga Bar Association, among others.
He has worked as a cultural manager and curator for various exhibition events. He currently curates exhibitions and events related to the Spanish-Japanese cultural and artistic exchange agency WASAKU, which he co-directed from 2013 to 2020.
He provides Legal Brand Management services for companies and corporate groups within the culture, entertainment, and technology sectors.
He is a member of several professional associations, including DENAE (Asociación Española de Derecho del Entretenimiento — Spanish Entertainment Law Association) and TIAMSA (The International Art Market Studies Association), among others.
05 / Contact