Legislative process, Neighbouring rights, Subject matter (copyrightable)

(iRights.info)/ /Leave a comment

Due to massive lobbying of the German press publishers, the new conservative-liberal German Government declared in its coalition contract in late 2009: “Press Publishers shall not be discriminated against other disseminators of copyright protected works [e.g. film or music producers]. Therefore we aim at the introduction of a neighbouring right for press publishers to increase…

Belgium, Case Law, Infringement, Liability, Remedies, Reproduction (right of)

(Marx, Van Ranst, Vermeersch & Partners)/ /Leave a comment

A Belgian band uploaded some songs on a freely accessible website under a non-commercial & no derivative Creative Commons licence. A Belgian theatre used one of the songs to create an advertisement for the next theatrical season, which was broadcasted on several national radios channels. The Court found that the theatre did not respect the…

Greece, Infringement, Legislative process, Liability

(University of Cyprus)/ /2 Comments

This is the first Greek copyright case about the liability for provision of links to works and other protected subject matter which have been uploaded to Internet without authorization. In the leading decision 965/2010, the three-member Misdemeanours Court of Kilkis was called to examine whether a website providing links to various contents posted in the…

Case Law, Duration, European Union

/ /Leave a comment

National legislation implementing the Directive on the legal protection of designs (98/71/EC) may not exclude from copyright protection designs that were protected by a registered design right and entered into the public domain before the entry into force of said legislation, in so long as they meet the requirements to be eligible for copyright protection….

Exceptions and Limitations, Infringement, Liability, Making available (right of), Remedies

(European Audiovisual Observatory )/ /Leave a comment

On 15 February 2011, the Spanish Parliament adopted the Ley de Economía Sostenible (Sustainable Economy Act). This act aims at turning Spain’s economic model into a more sustainable one from not only a economic but also social and environmental point of view. Among many other issues, this act includes some very controversial provisions amending three…

Database right, Originality, Subject matter (copyrightable)

(Centre for Commercial Law Studies at Queen Mary, University of London)/ /Leave a comment

Football listings have hit the UK again, this time with an “original” twist.Disputes surrounding football lists never seem to go out of fashion. On 9 December 2010, the High Court yet again was faced with issues of IP protection of football listings and other related statistical football information, subject matter somewhere on the borderline between…

Authorship, Belgium, Case Law, Ownership, Transfer (of right)

(Marx, Van Ranst, Vermeersch & Partners)/ /Leave a comment

In its arrest of 3 June 2010, the Supreme Court of Belgium decided that the presumption of transfer to the employer of patrimonial copyrights in a program created within an employment relationship, does does not apply in a situation where a program is developed by the statutory manager of a limited liability company. Click here…