Dugie Standeford

Dugie Standeford

  • Joined: 07/02/2009
  • Articles: 244

“Licences For Europe” Stakeholder Dialogue Ends With Some Agreement, Some Criticism

Licences for Europe, a European Commission-launched stakeholder dialogue intended to make more copyright-protected content available online, ended today with some concrete proposals but also some criticism. The exercise - which focussed on cross-border access and portability of services, user-generated content and micro-licensing, audiovisual cultural heritage, and text and data mining - brought applause from book publishers and commercial broadcasters, but complaints from civil society groups and internet companies.

European Commission Market-Tests Samsung Antitrust Commitments

The European Commission wants feedback from interested parties on a proposal by Samsung Electronics to resolve an antitrust investigation. The case relates to Samsung's efforts to enforce standard essential patents (SEPs) it owns for mobile communications technology. SEPs are patents that protect technologies essential for the implementation of an industry standard developed by a standard-setting organisation.

EU High Court Upholds Private Copy Levies On First Sale Of Blank Media

Setting general private copying levies on the first sale of blank media such as CDs and DVDs does not necessarily breach EU law, Europe's highest court said on 11 July. The law does not allow the levy to be collected where the intended use of the recording media clearly isn't for making private copies. But it doesn't bar a general levy system that includes the option of reimbursement where the intended use is not private copying, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) said.

Viewing Cached Copyrighted Content Isn’t Infringing, UK Supreme Court Says

Internet users who merely read or view copyright-protected webpages enjoy a temporary copying exception under European Union and United Kingdom law and do not need permission from rights holders, the UK Supreme Court said in a 17 April ruling.

EU General Court Clears Copyright Collecting Societies Of Antitrust Charges

European copyright collecting societies are not engaged in a cartel but the European Commission was correct in finding that some of the provisions in their reciprocal representation should be barred, the EU General Court (GC) said in a 12 April ruling. The case, which pits the International Confederation of Societies and Authors (CISAC) and 24 of its members against the EC, could be appealed to the EU Court of Justice (ECJ). CISAC said the decision proves its contention that it was not engaged in a conspiracy to restrict competition, and that it has already done away with the complained-of clauses.

Separately, the ECJ has been asked to tackle several key issues in a German matter involving standards-essential patents encumbered with a fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) licensing agreement.

“Works For Hire” A Key Issue As Music Stars Begin Terminating Copyright Transfers

Courts in the United States are beginning to interpret a Copyright Act of 1976 provision allowing authors of protected works to terminate their rights assignments beginning this year. Intellectual property attorneys appear to differ over the importance of the recent rulings, but they agree that the battle line in termination cases between the recording industry and artists will be drawn over whether or not a piece of music was created for hire.