Latest IP news


IP review – 13.08

We hope you enjoyed the two amazing weeks of Olympic Games that have just ended last night with the highly anticipated closing ceremony.  As for the IP world, beside the copyright issues born out of the frustration of overseas users who circumvented the geoblocks to watch the Games online, the last two weeks have brought some other worthwhile reading rulings in copyright cases. Here’s your chance to get up to date with the latest IP news.

7th Court US judge Richard Posner came up with a very interesting decision in myVidster case, ruling that embedding or watching an infringing video doesn’t violate copyright laws.  However, as we wrote on our blog, common sense dictates that myVidster.com are clearly making money from the infringement of other peoples copyright but the technical evidence and arguments were not sufficiently in place to win on this occasion.

The French “three-strikes” approach to digital piracy may have come to an end, after the new government described the Hadopi service as "expensive", "disproportionate" and failing to achieve its aims.

The Authors Guild that sued Google over digitization of their books asked a New York court to rule that Google’s project doesn’t represent “fair use” under the copyright law. The authors’ copyright dream would be to receive from Google $750 for each copied, distributed or displayed book.  It seems unlikely to see that happening in the near future though...

Richard O’Dwyer’s extradition to the US on copyright charges got again media attention, after a leaked memo showed a renewed attempt by the Motion Pictures Association of America (MPAA) to recruit allies and third parties to speak in favour of the controversial extradition.
UK’s creative industries and arts sector are now supported by the newly announced centre for copyright: CREATe (Creativity, Regulation, Enterprise and Technology). The new centre will explore a range of issues such as those associated with digitisation, new intellectual property issues and how best to support relationships between the arts and technology.

Creative Commons asked people to comment on a new draft of its core licences. The second draft of version 4.0 will stay opened for consultation for a month and it will be followed by a final draft in October, while the finalisation is intended for November or December. This new version represents an attempt to make its licensing system more flexible, while still protecting the creator’s rights.

On the other hand, commentators on the official blog from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills appear largely unconvinced by the proposed UK copyright changes regarding the orphan works.

The secretive Trans-Pacific-Partnership (TPP) became a bit more transparent after a segment of the agreement explaining copyright terms and exceptions leaked, revealing some interesting news. While the TPP promises to approach consumer protection in its provisions, among other issues, concerns about the agreement are still present.

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