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.
*For daily IP news,
please follow us @KLipcorp. Have a great week!