Infringement

CDSM Directive, Digital Single Market, European Union, Exceptions and Limitations, Infringement, Legislative process, Liability

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On July 6, the EU adopted the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market (DSM Directive), following heated discussions of Articles 15 (formerly 11) and 17 (formerly 13) in particular. In Germany, tens of thousands of people took to the streets to demonstrate against the planned legislation in the lead-up to the vote in the European Parliament…

Case Law, Infringement, Legislative process, Originality, United Kingdom

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Ed Sheeran’s ‘Shape of You’ was a giant hit of the last decade, a runaway success story – well almost. There is a fly in the ointment. Sami Chokri (a.k.a. Sami Switch) is claiming Sheeran and his fellow songwriters infringed his copyright, copying part of the chorus of ‘Oh Why’. You can hear the two…

Distribution (right of), Enforcement, Infringement, Italy, Liability, Remedies, United Kingdom

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1. Italian Case Law on Fast Injunctions The impact of the illegal distribution of audiovisual content is growing (see, for Italy, the report issued in 2019 by FAPAV Federation for the protection of audiovisual and multimedia content). IP enforcement is an important part of the reaction against this illegal phenomenon. In 2019, some important improvements…

Case Law, Infringement, USA

(Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory US)/ /Leave a comment

Factual questions precluded deciding novel legal issues regarding the scope of MMA’s preemption of state-law infringement claims involving pre-1972 sound recordings and whether Pandora qualified for the preemption defense. The U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco has returned a case to the federal district court in Los Angeles to consider in the first instance…

Case Law, Infringement, USA

(Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory US)/ /Leave a comment

Relying on obviously insufficient oversight mechanisms for discovering copyright infringement can constitute willful infringement. A California district court erred when it reduced a $460,800 jury verdict by $109,700 for lack of proof of willful infringement in a copyright infringement suit by Greg Young Publishing, Inc., against online marketplace Zazzle because recklessness can constitute willful infringement,…

Case Law, CJEU, Communication (right of), Infringement, Liability, United Kingdom

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The recent decision in Warner Music & another v TuneIn Inc [2019] EWHC 2923 (ch), was the first time the English Courts have forensically assessed the implications of CJEU decisions such as GS Media and Svensson on communication to the public over the internet. Many of us have been left bemused by the concepts the…

Case Law, Infringement, USA

(Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory US)/ /Leave a comment

The question of whether the plaintiffs’ allegedly infringed lyrics were sufficiently original to be copyright-able was a fact-intensive issue that should not have been determined on the pleadings. The U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco has revived a copyright infringement lawsuit against pop star Taylor Swift and others over song lyrics allegedly copied and…

Case Law, Damages, Infringement, Poland, Remedies, Remuneration (equitable)

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Earlier this month, the Constitutional Tribunal of the Republic of Poland issued a long-awaited judgment on the assessment of constitutionality of Article 79(1)(3)(b) of the Copyright and Related Rights Act (judgment of 5 November 2019, reference no. P 14/19). This provision entitles the entity whose copyright has been infringed to demand from the infringer a…

CJEU, European Union, Exceptions and Limitations, Germany, Infringement, Reproduction (right of)

(Institute for Information Law (IViR)) and (University College Dublin)/ /Leave a comment

The first part of this blogpost discussed the interpretation given to the right of phonogram producers under Article 2(c) of Directive 2001/29/EC (InfoSoc Directive) and Article 9(1)(b) of Directive 2006/115 (Rental and Lending Rights Directive) by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU or Court) in Pelham. Contrary to the Opinion of Advocate…

Case Law, CJEU, European Union, Germany, Infringement, Reproduction (right of)

(University College Dublin) and (Institute for Information Law (IViR))/ /Leave a comment

On 29 July the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) finally rendered its long-awaited judgment in Case C-476/17, Pelham v Hütter and Schneider-Esleben., together with its judgments on two other cases: Case C-516/17, Spiegel Online GmbH v Volker Beck and Case C-469/17, Funke Medien NRW GmbH v Bundesrepublik Deutschland. All three cases are…