Jurisdiction

Collective management, Digital Single Market, Duration, European Union, Legislative process, Performers' Rights

(Maastricht University) and (University of Alicante)/ /Leave a comment

Almost seven years ago, Directive 2011/77/EU – also called the Term Extension Directive – was passed. As mentioned in the Impact Assessment that accompanied the Proposal for the Directive, its general objective was to promote music production in the EU. The Impact Assessment also referred to specific objectives, which included contributing to enhancing the welfare…

Case Law, Enforcement, Germany, Infringement, Injunction, Liability, Remedies

(Director Anti-Piracy, Sky Deutschland) and (Senior Vice President Regulatory Affairs, Public Policy & Anti-Piracy, Sky Deutschland)/ /Leave a comment

A recent decision of the Munich Regional Court marks the first-ever blocking order in Germany against a copyright infringing website (judgment of 1 February 2018 – BeckRS 2018, 2857; English translation available here). If confirmed by higher courts (the judgment is subject to ongoing appeal proceedings), the decision will indeed have paved the way for…

Case Law, Design Rights, Infringement, Liability, United Kingdom

, (Bristows LLP)/ /Leave a comment

The High Court of England and Wales recently gave judgment in Cantel v Arc ([2018] EWHC 345 (Pat). Of most interest for this blog is the aspect of the case which considers when an infringing party has the requisite knowledge to be liable for secondary acts of infringement (such as importation and sale). The case…

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

(IViR)/ /Leave a comment

Sampling is a technique used in the music industry which utilises parts of pre-existing recordings in order to create a new music composition. Although sampling has been a common practice and a widely-used method in many modern music productions, its legality under EU law is still to be determined. From the perspective of European copyright…

Digital Single Market, European Union

(Liege Competition & Innovation Institute)/ /Leave a comment

People within the European Union travel more than ever before for professional or personal reasons. When they do so, the four freedoms enshrined in the TFEU guarantee that they can take with them their siblings, professional qualifications, goods and money. One of the things they could not take with them, however, was their subscription to…

Australia, European Union, Legislative process, Press Publishers ’ Right

(Macquarie Law School)/ /Leave a comment

The fight for the new press publishers’ right is continuing in the European Parliament. It was proposed by the European Commission in the draft Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market in 2016 and since then has attracted extensive discussion involving different groups. It is certainly not the first attempt by publishers to seek…

Australia, Exceptions and Limitations, Fair Use, Legislative process

, (Clayton Utz)/ /Leave a comment

On 19 March 2018, the Department of Communications and the Arts released its Copyright Modernisation Consultation Paper (Consultation Paper) addressing key proposals for the reform (or rather “modernisation”) of Australia’s copyright laws and regulations. The Consultation Paper is the latest in a series of publications addressing copyright law reform in Australia, some of which were…

Communication (right of), Enforcement, France, Infringement, Liability, Reproduction (right of)

(REALEX)/ /Leave a comment

At the end of 2017, HADOPI published an important survey on its activities for the period 2016-2017. It gives interesting and useful information on the graduated response created by the French legislator to fight online infringement directly at the source, by educating internet users and dissuading them from unlawfully downloading and/or sharing (and if possible…

Case Law, USA

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

Whether the online real estate brokerage Redfin exceeded its license to use Alexander Stross’s copyrighted property photographs raised a question of fact for the jury, a panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals determined, reversing the federal district court in Austin’s decision that Redfin’s license was a complete defense to Stross’s claim of copyright infringement….