Multimedia dealmaker raises the Bar

The closest Suree Chaisiripanich came to the music industry while growing up was a brief stint on the clarinet.

Now she is bringing the latest hit songs and video games to mobile phone users in Thailand and Indonesia.

The University of Queensland (UQ) Master of Law graduate works in Bangkok as a Legal and License Manager with mobile content provider SAM Click, better known and marketed across Thailand as Tigermob.

Ms Chaisiripanich negotiates the rights to license and distribute music, video games, video clips and photographs for mobile phones and other portable devices.

Hit songs are usually converted into mobile phone ringtones.

“The authorisation from each label is long and complicated,” Ms Chaisiripanich said.

“One song may be composed by many people and each composer grants his or her rights to different labels, so we have to ask many labels for publishing rights.”

Ms Chaisiripanich started with SAM Click in 2003 and has brokered copyright and trademark deals for some of Thailand’s top performers as well major labels such as SonyBMG.

Some of her multimillion-dollar licensing deals have included Boulevard of Broken Dreams by rock band Green Day and Get Right from pop singer Jennifer Lopez.

Ms Chaisiripanich said SAM Click planned to open in India and she was exploring licensing opportunities with music labels there and in Taiwan.

She said she eventually wanted to become one of Thailand’s intellectual property judges who preside over a range of intellectual property law cases including music downloads to SMS ringtones.

So the 32-year-old is studying mathematics to understand more about commercial issues before sitting the Bar association exam.

Playing clarinet and buying CDs was as close as Ms Chaisiripanich had been to the music industry before her licensing work.

UQ, based in Brisbane, Australia, is Queensland`s oldest and largest university which consistently ranks as one of Australia`s most outstanding research and teaching and learning universities.

“I really liked UQ because of the friendly staff there. The Brisbane campus at St Lucia is very beautiful and has a lot of space."

Media: contact Ms Chaisiripanich (+66 0 1629 8738, +66 0 2627 1999, suree@samclick.co.th) or Miguel Holland at UQ Communications (+61 7 3365 2619, m.holland@uq.edu.au) Hi-res photos available.