A seller of computer aided design (CAD) files used for steel detailing services could have infringed a software provider’s CAD program by downloading an unauthorized copy of the program, the U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco has held. There was a genuine issue of material fact as to whether the unauthorized download was more…
In December 2016, the Office of the U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator introduced a Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property Enforcement (FY 2017-2019). Since 2014, on the other side of the Atlantic ocean, the European Union has been undertaking steps to complete a comprehensive modernisation of the copyright system, including a reform of the Enforcement…
On December 8th 2016, Advocate General (AG) Campos Sánchez-Bordona delivered his opinion in Case C‑527/15- Stichting Brein v Jack Frederik Wullems, acting under the name of Filmspeler (Filmspeler). This opinion may pave the way for a broader interpretation of the concept of ´communication to the public´ under Article 3 (1) of the InfoSoc Directive. By…
United Kingdom unregistered design right (“UDR”) cases are complicated. The precise nature of the UDR claimed is often difficult to express (from a claimant perspective) and often difficult to comprehend (from a defendant perspective). UDR were created to complement the protection afforded by copyright and registered design rights in the UK. Registered design law provides…
Introduction from the editors Last week, the UK Supreme Court handed down its judgment in R (Miller) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, a case in which the court had to determine the steps required under UK law before the process of leaving the European Union can be initiated. It goes without…
On 22 November 2016, the Court of Appeal of Amsterdam decided the case Pearson v. Bär Software (the judgment is only available in Dutch). The judgment seems remarkable in light of the CJEU’s earlier ruling in the Ryanair case. How do they compare? The Pearson case The Pearson v. Bär Software case considered a collection…
The proprietors of a muscle car restoration business, Dan and Gary Pronman, were liable for the attorney fees incurred by the operators of a complaint website in successfully defending against frivolous copyright infringement claims based on the website operators’ allegedly unlawful reproduction and publication of copyrighted photographs owned by the Pronmans, the U.S. Court of…
In the past few months, the press exception has been at the centre of attention in court proceedings in Serbia. The Appeal Court has concluded that a photograph, protected by copyright, taken a few minutes after a car accident where seven people were injured was an integral part of the current event about which the…
Lower courts can give fresh insight into the adjudication taking place at the highest national and European courts. This is especially true for the recent GS Media case. The German and Dutch courts have created new food for thought on the meaning of placing a hyperlink ‘for profit’. The exact meaning of this notion is…
The French Act No. 2012-287 of 1 March 2012 ‘on the digital exploitation of unavailable books of the twentieth century’ created a specific compulsory collective management system for out-of-commerce books, in Articles L.134-1 to L.134-9 French intellectual property Code (‘IPC’). These new provisions were intended to allow the digitisation and reissuing of books that are…
