Morris, Manning & Martin, LLP

Marty Farrant is an associate in the Corporate Technology, Healthcare Information Technology and Business & Technology Sourcing Practices.  Mr. Farrant counsels manufacturers, service providers, content producers and distributors, and large end users in complex technology transactions, including outsourcing matters, strategic alliances, technology procurement and acquisitions, management of intellectual property assets, healthcare information technology, data privacy and security issues, and software and technology licensing.  Mr. Farrant’s experience includes drafting and negotiating a wide range of sophisticated agreements on behalf of clients from several high-technology industries, including healthcare, media, software, and telecommunications.

Mr. Farrant brings to his law practice a common sense approach to business issues and the clear communication style he developed during the ten years he spent working in some of the types of companies he now represents. Before earning his law degree, Marty spent more than a decade working in and managing technology-centric businesses.  He began his career in the broadcast and cable television industry, and served as Operations Manager to a Georgia-based regional cable operator, where he oversaw the rollout of one of the earliest launches of residential high-speed cable modem Internet service in the U.S.  He was later recruited to serve as Business Development Manager to a national cable television network headquartered in Atlanta, where he helped to structure and execute transactions that paired emerging distribution technologies with licensed content.  During law school, Mr. Farrant worked as a law clerk for the South Carolina Office of Regulatory Staff in Columbia, South Carolina, where he assisted in telecommunication matters pending before the South Carolina Public Service Commission and the Federal Communications Commission.

Representative Transactions

• Drafted and negotiated an agreement to acquire and license a seven-figure interactive television system to deliver satellite networks and on-demand content to the patient rooms of a major hospital.
• Drafted and negotiated a seven-figure co-production agreement between a major public television network and a nonprofit historical society to govern the three-year production, distribution and ongoing ownership of a daily series of television, radio and web segments.
• Negotiated and closed an agreement to license a Digital Millennium Copyright Act-compliant streaming music service on behalf of a privately held music technology client.
• Represented an early-stage software company in the licensing of its flagship product to a national cable television network to enable secure content streaming and real-time interactive user feedback.
• Drafted a series of agreements to effect the transfer of foreign- and domestically registered software copyrights, trademarks and patents from a European parent company to its U.S. subsidiary.
• Successfully negotiated a six-figure reduction in applicable Universal Service Fund fees formerly imposed on intrastate portions of a client’s leased fiber optic network.

Honors and Affiliations

Georgia Bar Association - Intellectual Property Law Section
Georgia Bar Association - Technology Law Section
South Carolina Bar Association - Healthcare Law Section