Cross & Co Lawyers provides transactional advice to SME exporters and seeks to facilitate international trade in Australian intellectual property throughout the world. We provide exclusive advice to our Export Incentives division and consult to Government on behalf of our SME clients, on areas of Government policy which may impact on intelligent exports.
Founded in 1982 by our principal Warren Cross L.L.B., Cross & Co Lawyers has successfully lobbied for changes to the Export Market Development Grants Act, the Corporations Law and the Income Tax Assessment Act, as they apply to SME exporters.
Our clients have included the Australian Government, Universal Music Group, Beyond International, EMI Music, Rightship (BHP/Rio Tinto JV), Sydney Bridgeclimb, The Wiggles, Southern Star Group, Virgin Music, ‘Rabbit Proof Fence’, ‘Shine’, ‘Wolf Creek’, Dirty Dancing, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, The Australian Ballet, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Dance Company, Laservision (Hong Kong laser show), world champion surfers Tom Carroll and Martin Potter and various rock stars and music industry players including Mushroom Records (Kylie Minogue), Engine Room Music (James Packer/Andrew Klippel JV), The Seekers, Frontier Touring, JBT, Silverchair, Wolfmother, Deluxe Music (INXS), Jewel Music (Willie Dixon, Howling Wolf, Chuck Berry), Rose Tattoo, Yothu Yindi, Cruel Sea, Noiseworks, Grace Knight, Gershwin Estate, Natalie Cole, Violent Femmes and Richard Clapton.
Warren Cross has been widely published, his keynote speech to the MIDEM Music Conference in Cannes being reprinted as the lead editorial in music industry bible ‘Billboard’. He is the only Australian lawyer to be a chapter author in New York based Clarke Boardman’s Entertainment Industry Handbook. In 1987/88 he partnered leading litigator Leon Zwier and tax expert Michael Brereton in groundbreaking law firm Lilley Brereton before becoming a partner and divisional leader in national law firm Gadens from 1988 to 1991. Working beside renowned litigator Mark O’Brien, chief legal counsel to Kerry Packer and ACP, Warren continued to develop a reputation as one of Australia’s foremost transactional lawyers in the entertainment industry. He negotiated the sale of the INXS publishing catalogue to MCA Music Inc, acted for Mushroom Records in the re-signing of Kylie Minogue, secured for The Seekers the largest royalty advance ever paid by EMI Music Australia and was legal counsel to world champion surfer Tom Carroll in the first million dollar endorsement deal in professional surfing. Warren recommenced Cross & Co in 1991 focusing on international trade and the entertainment industry.
Cross & Co Lawyers have pioneered the use of the Export Grant Scheme by intellectual exporters. Warren Cross has conducted numerous test cases in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal to establish new areas of qualifying expenditure under the Export Grant Scheme. Successful test cases conducted for our clients have led to new guidelines being published by Austrade for the fashion, arts, music and film industries. Significant new areas of qualifying expenditure have become available as a result of those test cases. Our Export Incentives division has secured over $67 million in grants for our clients.