An actress in the controversial anti-Islamic film Innocence of Muslims lacked a copyright interest in her performance in the film and was not entitled to a preliminary injunction against the film’s display on YouTube, the U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco has held in an en banc opinion (Garcia v. Google, Inc., May 18,…
This case in the Court of Appeal of ‘s-Hertogenbosch concerned the use of a photograph of a photo model by two rappers in one of their music videos. The video was uploaded to YouTube after which it was disseminated via their own website’s homepage and their YouTube Channel. Although the rappers were authorised to do so by the…
The Supreme Court held that pictures of tryptic paintings, as copyrightable artistic works, cannot be used as decoration of shops and on online catalogues without the authorisation of the owner of the copyright in those paintings. A full summary of this case has been published on Kluwer IP Law
A claim for infringement of copyright and design rights failed. There was no good reason to reject evidence that the fabric in question was created without sight of the claimant’s fabric; the similarities between the designs were not sufficient to infer that there had been subconscious copying. A full summary of this case has been published on Kluwer IP…
A recent judgment by the Spanish Supreme Court draws a line under the legal dispute between the heirs of the British writer G. K. Chesterton and a Spanish publishing house concerning the term of protection applicable to the former’s works in Spain. The judgment declares that Chesterton’s works, just like those of any national or…
In this case, the Court of Appeal was required to determine the amount of damages payable when the fact of infringement was ascertained but there was insufficient evidence on the total amount of damages incurred. The court held that the circumstances related to the type, nature and gravity of the infringement, the lost profit, any moral damages…
Another blocking order in the UK, however, this time there was some complexity about the actual acts of infringement. In Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation & Ors v Sky UK Ltd & Ors, the High Court considered the circumstances in which website blocking orders should be granted against websites facilitating the use of a “sophisticated…
The Belgian legal order has recently welcomed a new legal code: the Code of Economic Law (CEL). Laws are not systematically arranged in codes in Belgium: there are some codes (such as the judicial code, the criminal code, codes of various types of taxes etc.) as well as countless separate laws, acts and regulations for…
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…
On the 13th March 2015, the President of the Brussels French speaking Court of First Instance pronounced a judgment to the detriment of Sabam, an important collective management organisation in Belgium. In 2011 Sabam decided to claim a fee from Internet access providers in exchange for a licence which allows these providers to communicate copyright…
