Exceptions to hearsay rule did not apply to songwriters’ evidence of copying against members of rock band who allegedly copied the songwriters’ bass riff when creating the band’s own song. Two songwriters who authored the song “Ain’t That a Lot of Love” failed to provide admissible evidence of direct copying or substantial similarity to survive…
European Court of Justice decisions of July 29, 2019 (C-469/17 and C-516/17) The abuse of copyright as a “legal weapon” to suppress press reports is not a new development – for decades authors and rightholders have used their exclusive rights to prevent the publication of unpleasant information. The situation in practice The situation is always…
On 10 September 2019, AG Szpunar delivered his opinion in Nederlands Uitgeversverbond and Groep Algemene Uitgevers v. Tom Kabinet (C-263/18), concerning the lawfulness of Tom Kabinet’s sale of second-hand e-books. The referring court asked the CJEU whether the supply of e-books by downloading for permanent use is covered by the right of distribution under Article…
The turbulent relationship between copyright law and the freedoms of information and expression lies at the heart of the recent decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in the case Spiegel Online GmbH v Volker Beck (C 516/17). Part I of this blogpost critically overviewed the CJEU’s main principles of analysis…
On 29 July 2019, the CJEU delivered its hotly awaited decision in the case Spiegel Online GmbH v Volker Beck (C 516/17). The decision is part of a trilogy of preliminary references raised by the German courts focusing on copyright exceptions and the interaction of copyright law with fundamental rights (Pelham, C‑476/17 and Funke Medien…
On 12 September 2019, the CJEU held that according to article 2(a) of Directive 2001/29 (the InfoSoc Directive), Member States’ copyright laws can no longer protect models (in other words works of applied art or designs) on the ground that, beyond their utilitarian purpose, they generate a distinctive and significant visual effect from an aesthetic…
On remand, the district court must apply the Fogerty factors in determining whether the photographer is entitled to an attorney fee award. Given its determination that a media company committed copyright infringement by posting a copyrighted photograph of singer Willie Nelson on a radio station website without including the required Creative Commons attributions, the federal…
Almost a decade after the first complaint was lodged, the judgment in the Series Yonkis case was delivered by the Murcia Criminal Court in June. This case is considered to be the most important court case to date in relation to downloads of content protected by intellectual property rights in Spain. For 7 years (from…
The statutory schemes of Italian and U.S. copyright law differ in their allocation of authorship status in that Italian law does not recognize the ab initio statutory allocation of copyright to the commissioner of a work made for hire. The assignment to a music publisher of composer Ennio Morricone’s copyrights in six Italian movie scores…
In a recent UK High Court decision Charlotte Tilbury was able to claim artistic copyright in two designs subsisting in its Starlight Palette make-up palette and successfully prove infringement by Aldi and its lookalike palette. In a rare move for infringements of this nature, the court gave summary judgment on the view that Aldi had…
