Copyrights

Have European Union legislators finally agreed on the substance of a new Copyright Directive? That was the claim made in a statement by the European Commission on February 13. The Commission announced that it, the EU Council (which represents member state governments) and the European Parliament (comprising 751 elected members) ... Read More

On February 6, 2019 the Copyright Board issued the following Notice:File / Dossier: Access Copyright  –  Post‐Secondary Educational Institutions (2011‐2013 and 2014‐2017)  Access Copyright  –  Établissements d'enseignement postsecondaires (2011‐2013 et2014‐2017)February 6, 2019[CB‐CDA 2019‐007]NOTICE OF THE BOARDThe Board wishes to consult Parties on issues of tariff wording before proceeding to certification.  ... Read More

Brainbase, a California tech startup with a team in Estonia, has received US$1M in seed funding to build an "end-to-end product ecosystem for intellectual property licensing" that could change the way businesses manage and licence their brands worldwide. The investment is an indication of dynamic evolution in the IP sector ... Read More

Mentioned in this NYT Style Magazine profile:"Dean has proposed sidestepping the law entirely and instead introducing an option for collectors selling a work through an auction house or gallery to simply check a box — yes or no (he’s been referring to it unofficially as 'the Dean Choice') — to ... Read More

We wrote last year about several copyright infringement suits filed against Epic Games, the marker of the Fortnite game, by individuals who became associated with a particular dance move, whether it be their sole claim to fame or not (see hereand here). One of these plaintiffs is rapper Terence Ferguson, ... Read More

artnet:  Accused of Data Theft, Former Lehmann Maupin Director Bona Yoo Fires Back With Her Own Lawsuit Against the Gallery.Background here. ... Read More

SFMoMA is selling a 1960 Rothko painting at Sotheby's in May.  It's expected to sell for $35-50 million.Now, you may think this significant work by this significant artist, having fallen under the aegis of a museum, is held in the public trust, to be accessible to present and future generations.  ... Read More

In a major development in the European Union with repercussions for the internet at large, the European Parliament, the Council of the EU and the European Commission on February 13, 2019, agreed upon the final text of the new EU Copyright Directive. While the text of the new rules has ... Read More

In my previous post, I had discussed the first issue that was discussed in Star India v DIPP, regarding the regulation of content by the impugned provisions. In this post, I will discuss the second issue concerning TRAI’s power to regulate content in light of potential conflicts with the Copyright ... Read More

This week in Other Barks & Bites: the USPTO appoints a new Chief Information Officer; Apple uses Qualcomm chips in Germany while American professors urge the ITC to deny exclusion of iPhones found to infringe Qualcomm patent claims; two important IP cases will be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court ... Read More

On Wednesday, news came out that, after a mammoth three-day push, negotiators from the EU countries, the European Parliament and the European Commission had reached a deal on its proposed copyright reforms. This includes the two most controversial articles: Article 11 and Article 13. The news originally came down from ... Read More

Tatiana SynodinouOn 10 January 2019, the Advocate General (AG) Szpunar delivered his opinion in the case Spiegel Online GmbH v Volker Beck (C 516/17). The case is part of a trilogy of preliminary references raised by the German courts focusing on copyright exceptions and the interaction of copyright law with ... Read More

Appeal from the victims of Controlled Digital Lending (CDL) — This week, a group of 38 organizations published the following appeal: “As working writers, translators, photographers, and graphic artists; as unions, organizations, and federations representing the creators of works included in published books; as book publishers; and as reproduction rights ... Read More

Story here.  Background here. ... Read More

Copyright law stakeholders and pundits are keeping a close watch on the progress of South Africa’s Copyright Amendment Bill, as it makes its way to the National Council of Provinces in Parliament this week for further deliberation. ... Read More

Over on the IPKat, Eleonora reports that at last, after several weeks, several discussions, and after France and Germany achieved a compromise on some key provisions in the draft Directive on copyright in the Digital Single Market an agreement has been reached between the European Parliament and Council negotiators on the ... Read More

The European Council's Romanian presidency announced today it has struck a provisional agreement with the EU Parliament on a draft directive that makes changes to existing European Union copyright rules. The draft agreement, which will go before the full Council of member states and Parliament for approval, would make changes ... Read More

Have any suggestions for the 3 Count? Let me know via Twitter @plagiarismtoday. 1: ‘Fortnite’ Publisher Urges Dismissal of Rapper’s Suit: “No One Can Own a Dance Step” First off today, Eriq Gardner at The Hollywood Reporter Esquire reports that Epic Games, the makers of the popular video game Fortnite, have ... Read More

Rights holders from across the European Union, including the recorded music sector, music publishing, television and sport have called for a halt to the planned reforms to copyright laws saying that recent revisions to the draft legislation mean that  "regrettably under these circumstances we would rather have no directive at ... Read More

Patricia MariscalThe Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled on a series of questions referred by the Arnhem-Leeuwarden Appeals Court (Netherlands), relating to the possible copyright protection of the taste of a cheese product. The CJEU confirmed that the concept of a “work” provided for in Directive 2001/29 ... Read More

Depending on to whom you’re speaking, AI is either a groundbreaking technology that is going to cause major upheavals in our society or it’s fad that will probably burn itself out in due time. Either way though, there’s not much doubt that the technology is advancing, becoming both more ... Read More

Readers will be aware that I have been following and commenting on Blacklock’s “litany of litigation”, as I have called it, against the Federal Government and several of its agencies.An alert reader has advised that Blacklock’s has apparently had some interaction with the CRTC regarding Canada’s ... Read More

Image from Wikimedia Commons. The universe surely has a strange sense of humour. Imagine our surprise when we received a notice from Google Inc., that they had de-indexed one of blogs after a complaint was filed against it by Saregama India Pvt. Ltd. On December 13, 2018, Google informed us ... Read More

This week on Capitol Hill, the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives has planned a number of hearings on climate change and antitrust matters, especially where the T-Mobile/Sprint merger is concerned. In the Senate, cybersecurity takes center stage at the Senate Homeland Security and Energy Committees. Elsewhere in Washington, D.C., the Brookings ... Read More

The World Trade Organization is the prime gathering point for the world's governments to discuss and negotiate on policies of the day. A decades-long swinging pendulum within the WTO's committee on trade and intellectual property is IP's contribution to innovation and economy and its contribution to the public interest. At ... Read More

Pim ten ThijeIntroduction The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has ruled in Bastei Lübbe GmbH & Co. KG v. Michael Strotzer (C-149/17) that “the owner of an internet connection used for copyright infringements” cannot invoke his fundamental right to private life to circumvent the possible enforcement of ... Read More

According to the World Blind Union, of the millions of books published each year, approximately only 1-7 percent are made available to those who are visually impaired. On January 28, President Donald J. Trump signed the documents for the United States to ratify the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to ... Read More

If you haven’t heard already, New York Fashion Week is here! As usual, a lineup of awe-inspiring shows is expected to roll out over the next several days, as it does every September and February, highlighting the latest fashion trends of some of world’s most famous designers.  One of the ... Read More

This week in Other Barks & Bites: the Federal Circuit affirms a Section 101 invalidation of patent claims in favor of Mayo Collaborative Services; Apple wins an order to limit damages in Qualcomm patent case; Google frets over proposed European Union copyright rules; India proposes jail time for film piracy; ... Read More

The leading United States industry association yesterday released its annual International Intellectual Property Index, ranking countries on their progress in protecting US intellectual property rights. The ranks show the US advancing in the area of patent protection, while retaining the top overall score; India strengthening IP and charting a course ... Read More