Original news and analysis on international IP policy
President Obama's US Department of Justice (DOJ) recently filed a legal brief in support of damages sought by an affiliate of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), prompting some observers to speculate on the Obama administration’s impartiality in the RIAA’s file-sharing litigation campaign.
French legislators are putting the final touches on controversial legislation that will likely lead to the most governmentally-proactive law intended to curb illegal file sharing among any other European Union member state.
By Bruce Gain for Intellectual Property Watch Representatives from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) have confirmed that the organisation has opted to suspend its strategy of suing individuals accused of illegal file-sharing in the United States and to…
By Bruce Gain for Intellectual Property Watch
An upcoming federal court ruling in the United States that will determine whether or not RealNetworks' RealDVD copying software violates the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) will likely have a major impact on releases of similar software in the near future.
By Bruce Gain for Intellectual Property Watch
Five years and over 30,000 lawsuits later, both sides in the music industry's legal battle against illegal file-sharing in the United States claim they are prevailing.
By Bruce Gain for Intellectual Property Watch The decision by Virgin recording company to send warning letters to alleged music pirates earlier this month appears out of sync with the approach internet service providers in the United Kingdom and elsewhere…
By Bruce Gain for Intellectual Property Watch
The United Kingdom government's much-anticipated release last month of its "Creative Britain" report offered few details about the direction anti-piracy policy could take in the European Union country. But government officials, Internet service providers, media groups and other interested parties are expected to hash out a final draft of a working agreement on enforcement in the coming months, according to sources.
By Bruce Gain for Intellectual Property Watch
European carmakers are turning to European courts to urge enforcement of their intellectual property rights against Chinese firms, and they have a good chance of prevailing, legal experts say.
At issue are car models that European manufacturers Daimler, BMW, and Fiat say are made-in-China replicas of their models.
By Bruce Gain for Intellectual Property Watch
Legal experts and consumer rights groups are questioning the feasibility of measures described in an anti-piracy pact that French media groups, government officials, and Internet service providers (ISPs) announced on 23 November.
ISPs also dispute the veracity of media reports that have since claimed that access providers will begin to actively monitor and block peer-to-peer file exchanges in France.
The anti-piracy agreement describes a number of possible measures that could prevent illegal distribution of copyright-protected digital media in France.
By Bruce Gain for Intellectual Property Watch
The European Commission's recent approval of a €120-million state aid package granted to a German research project called Theseus for the development of "Web 3.0" drew a lot of media attention. However, the grant's sum is but a fraction of the R&D budgets of the world's leading consumer Internet technology firms.
According to the project's spokesman, Thomas Huber, the project's aim is nothing less than "fundamentally transforming the existing Internet." A reinvention of the Internet and the intellectual property rights associated with such a feat would require billion-dollar annual research and development budgets, according to Rob Enderle, president and founder of the California-based Enderle Group analyst firm.