Case Law

Case Law, Communication (right of), Digital Single Market, Germany, Infringement, Liability

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Decision of the German Bundesgerichtshof of September 21, 2017, file no. I ZR 11/16: “Vorschaubilder III” (“Thumbnails III”). In this decision, the Bundesgerichtshof (“BGH”) applies the latest CJEU case law on liability for linking, namely Svensson (C-466/12), GS Media (C-160/15), Filmspeler (C-527/15) and BREIN/Ziggo (C-610/15) to search engines and in particular to Google’s picture search….

Case Law, USA

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An artist’s illustration of two dolphins crossing underwater was an idea that was found first in nature and was not protectable under copyright law, the U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco has held. The court affirmed a district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of another artist who created a painting with a…

Case Law, Communication (right of), Infringement, Portugal

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The Court of Appeal of Lisbon confirmed that it is mandatory to have a licence and to pay for performing broadcast works to clients via TV sets in hotel rooms as this constitutes communication of the works to the public. Case date: 16 May 2017 Case number: 197/14.2YHLSB.L1-7 Court: Court of Appeal of Lisbon A full summary of…

Case Law, Duration, Infringement, Moral rights, Portugal, Remedies

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The Court of Appeal of Lisbon held that the violation of the right to publish a work post mortem, against the will of the author or of his/her heirs, is a serious and irreparable infringement of the author’s moral rights and provides sufficient justification to order an interim injunction. Case date: 2 May 2017 Case number: 348/16.2YHLSB.L1-1…

Case Law, Performers' Rights, Portugal, Remedies, Remuneration (equitable)

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The Supreme Court confirmed that performing artists (performers) have a mandatory right to equitable remuneration from broadcasters or movie producers as consideration for the statutory assignment of most of their rights to broadcasters and producers.  Moreover, the Court declared that in award calculation two methods of fixing the amount of remuneration are possible: either as…

Case Law, Damages, Infringement, Liability, Portugal, Remedies

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The Court of Appeal confirmed that playing phonograms in a night club requires authorisation from and payment to the relevant right holders (performers and artists). On the question of damages, the Court confirmed that the award of punitive-like damages should be limited to cases of serious and repeated infringement. In the present case, as this…

Case Law, Damages, Estonia, Infringement, Making available (right of), Moral rights, Reimbursement, Remedies

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In this case, the Supreme Court of Estonia analyses the concept of the “hypothetical licence fee” under the Estonian Copyright Act, in accordance with Article 13(1)b) of the EU Enforcement Directive. The court is of the opinion that the “hypothetical licence fee” must be calculated based on the real value of the right of use…

Case Law, CJEU, European Union, Exceptions and Limitations, Germany, Infringement

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The exceptions for reporting of current events and quotation facilitate the functioning of the media. On 27 July 2017, the Bundesgerichtshof (BGH) submitted several questions to the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU or Court) on the balance between copyright exceptions and the fundamental freedoms of information and the media, as well as the…

Authorship, Case Law, Fair Use, Infringement, Originality, Ownership, USA

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The legal battle over who has the copyright claim to the pictures taken by a monkey has finally come to an end. The monkey self-portrait (“selfie”) dispute is a series of much discussed legal proceedings concerning photos taken in 2011 by a crested black macaque, Naruto, using equipment belonging to a British tourist (David Slater)…

Case Law, USA

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A jewelry designer’s “Buddha’s Kiss” earring was entitled only to “thin” copyright protection because there were a limited number of ways to design an earring containing the work’s single protectable idea—a teardrop-shaped earring incorporating the henna symbol for the word “kiss” and the shape of the Buddha—the U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco has…