Exceptions and Limitations

Exceptions and Limitations to copyright are provisions which allow for works protected by copyright to be used in specific situations without a licence from the copyright owner. There are numerous limitations and exceptions found in copyright legislation including, for example, the fair use exception, exceptions for libraries, archives and educational institutions, and the back-up copy exception.

Case Law, Collective management, Exceptions and Limitations, France, Legislative process, Private copying, Remedies, Remuneration (equitable)

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In a judgment of 17 March 2016, the Cour de cassation, the French Supreme Court, ruled that the judicial courts are required to assess and award compensation for private copying in situations where a decision of the Commission in charge of setting the fair compensation has been annulled. This judgment seems to mean that the…

Case Law, Communication (right of), Exceptions and Limitations, Infringement, Liability, Portugal

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The appeal court held that the diffusion of broadcast works as ambient music, by means of playing radio broadcasts through several loudspeakers in a fruit shop open to the public, was a mere reception and not a reuse of the broadcast works and therefore it did not require the authorisation of the copyright holders. A…

Exceptions and Limitations, Fair Use, Infringement, USA

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The saga over the legality of the Google Books project finally came to an end on April 18, 2016, when the Supreme Court of the US refused to intervene in the case over alleged copyright infringement for scanning millions of books and making them searchable online. This was a final blow to authors’ representatives who…

Case Law, Exceptions and Limitations, Infringement, United Kingdom

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The court held that the operators of a website and mobile applications had infringed the claimants’ copyright in TV broadcasts and films of cricket matches by allowing users to upload, view and share short clips of cricket match broadcasts. Fair dealing for the purposes of reporting current events in accordance with s30(2) CDPA did not…

European Union, Exceptions and Limitations, Text and Data Mining (TDM)

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Our era is the era of ‘Big Data’. The proliferation of data that we have experienced in recent years is unprecedented, and its volume only grows. Some numbers: we create 2.5 quintillion bytes of data every day and 90% of the data in today’s world has been created in the last two years. The volume…

Case Law, Exceptions and Limitations, Infringement, Making available (right of), Reproduction (right of), Sweden

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Question referred to the Supreme Court by Stockholm District Court in a case between Bildupphovsrätt i Sverige ek.för. (BUS) vs Wikimedia Sverige (Case nr Ö 849-15) On 4th April 2016 the Supreme Court handed down its decision in a case between Bildupphovsrätt i Sverige (BUS) and Wikimedia Sverige. The question referred to the Supreme Court…

Communication (right of), European Union, Exceptions and Limitations, Infringement, Legislative process, Liability, Making available (right of), Reproduction (right of)

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When a new disruptive innovation comes around, the question always arises as to whether the current legal regimes can provide answers to all potential legal questions arising out of such new technologies and their business cases. The process for obtaining legal certainty may take some time, especially with regard to computer related technology: e.g., whilst…

Collective management, Exceptions and Limitations, Infringement, Legislative process, Remedies, Remuneration (equitable), Slovakia

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By Martin Husovec, Tilburg University and Matej Gera, CIPPM, Bournemouth University Some will associate the year of 2016 with the year of the Fire Monkey or the monkey selfie. Not Slovak copyright scholars, whose government decided to engage in its own monkey business – an entirely new Copyright Act (Act No. 185/2015). Being the third…

Digital Single Market, European Union, Exceptions and Limitations, Legislative process, Text and Data Mining (TDM)

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On December 9th 2015 the Commission revealed its plans for the modernisation of copyright law. The target is to adapt copyright law to technological challenges and to make it more European, digital friendly and functional in an EU digital single market. The Commission’s strategy focuses on the three key areas which have been identified by…

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

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…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:…