European Union

Database right, European Union, Exceptions and Limitations, Legislative process, Making available (right of), Reproduction (right of), Text and Data Mining (TDM)

(Schulich School of Law )/ /Leave a comment

…and they show overwhelming support for the introduction of a mandatory copyright exception for text and data mining for both commercial and non-commercial purposes. Back in September, we launched a blog poll on the potential introduction of a mandatory text and data mining exception. We asked our blog readers their views on the following statements:…

European Union, Legislative process, Making available (right of)

(Macquarie Law School)/ /Leave a comment

E-book lending in public libraries (e-lending) and the need to extend the public lending right (PLR) to these practices has been discussed on several recent occasions. Following the Sieghart report on e-lending in 2013, the UK government has extended the PLR to e-book downloads occurring within the premises of UK libraries. In 2013-14 the Commission…

Database right, European Union, Exceptions and Limitations, Legislative process, Making available (right of), Reproduction (right of), Text and Data Mining (TDM)

(Schulich School of Law )/ /Leave a comment

In the September 3rd edition of Science∣Business, Julia Reda, German Pirate Party member of the European Parliament (MEP) sitting on the EP Justice Committee, was said to be confident that a mandatory text and data mining (TDM) deal could be introduced for researchers. This should come as music to the ears of the members of…

Collective management, European Union, Legislative process, United Kingdom

(Bristows LLP)/ /Leave a comment

By Jeremy Blum and Jade McIntyre, Bristows The EU Directive on the collective management of copyright and multi-territorial licensing of online music (“the Directive”), published on 26 February 2014, entered into force on 10 April 2014 and must be transposed into national law by 10 April 2016. The policy underpinning the Directive is part of…

Authorship, CJEU, European Union, Originality, Ownership

(Elzaburu)/ /Leave a comment

A recent judgment by the CJEU set aside a decision of the General Court annulling an OHIM decision to invalidate a Community trade mark owned by the National Lottery Commission, based on the presumed existence of an earlier copyright. The CJEU remitted the case back to the General Court for a ruling taking into account…

Enforcement, European Union, Infringement, Remedies, Subject matter (copyrightable)

(ASK Research Center, Università Bocconi)/ /Leave a comment

The relationship between copyright and public art has always been difficult. From the initial reluctance to include architectural works as copyrightable subject matter because of their functional dimension, to the attempt at copyrighting works that, like the Egyptian pyramids, have never been protected (see here), passing on through the cases of “duplitectural marvels”. Moving beyond…

Collective management, European Union, Exceptions and Limitations, Making available (right of), Netherlands, Private copying, Reproduction (right of)

(Institute for Information Law (IViR))/ /Leave a comment

Since 2012 a multidisciplinary research group at the Institute for Information Law (IViR), University of Amsterdam has been conducting a large-scale empirical study of Alternative Compensation Systems (ACS). In simple terms, ACS are legal mechanisms that for a small monthly fee would authorize non-commercial online uses by individuals, including the downloading and sharing of protected…

Case Law, European Union, Exceptions and Limitations, Germany, Private copying, Reproduction (right of)

(Institute of Legal Informatics, Leibniz Universität Hannover)/ /Leave a comment

On 16th April 2015 the German Federal Court of Justice (BGH) delivered its final judgment in a lengthy legal standoff, which began its journey through the judiciary in 2009. The judgment is not yet available but is discussed in a press release here.  Since that time libraries and publishing houses have fought with one another…

Digital Single Market, European Union, Legislative process

(University of Cyprus)/ /Leave a comment

On May 6th, 2015 the European Commission revealed its eagerly anticipated plans for the EU digital single market. The EU Digital Market strategy, which aims to open up digital opportunities for individuals and businesses and enhance Europe’s position as a world leader in the digital economy, is built on three pillars: (1) better access for…

European Union, Exceptions and Limitations, Legislative process

(Maastricht University)/ /Leave a comment

Back in April 2014, following the Council’s authorization, the EU signed the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons who are Blind, Visually Impaired, or otherwise Print Disabled (“Marrakesh Treaty”). Under the Treaty, parties are to adopt copyright exceptions to facilitate access to formats of works accessible to persons who are blind,…