©-LAW

A few weeks ago, I  published a map  - that I created for my students - detailing the main potential events in the life of an EU/national trade mark. Today I have prepared a new student map, this time devoted to the main potential events in the life of a copyright work in Europe. The map should be read in combination with other copyright materials I have produced, including: Linking under EU Copyright Law Right of Communication to the Public – Potential Liability Under Article 3(1) InfoSoc Directive Copyright Infringement Checklist UK Copyright Exceptions This new map, which is not meant at all as exhaustive, can be downloaded  here  and is reproduced also below. Other students materials are available  here . As always, any feedback is very welcome! [Originally published on The IPKat on 30 October 2018]

Freedom of the press Last year The IPKat  reported  on two new important referrals to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) from Germany. One of them, known as the  Afghanistan Pap ers case  [it is now  Funke Medien NRW GmbH v  Federal Republic of Germany , C-469/17 ]  is asking about the interplay between copyright protection and freedom of expression and freedom of the press. Background The reference was made in the context of litigation between the German Government and German newspaper  WAZ  over the unauthorized publication by the latter of the so called 'Afghanistan Papers', ie confidential military reports on the operations of German armed forces in that region in the period 2005-2012. The German Federal Court of Justice (BGH) stayed the proceedings, and asked the CJEU to clarify whether and to what extent the assessment of  prima facie  copyright infringement and the applicabil...

The face of someone keen to share their Wi-Fi password .... What can be the nature of the penalties and measures to be taken in copyright infringement cases? More specifically:  Is it compatible with EU law to provide that the owner of an internet connection, through which copyright infringements have been committed, may escape liability thereof by indicating, without the need to provide any further details, a family member who has also had access to such connection? These were the issues at the centre of   Bastei Lübbe , C-149/17 , a reference for a preliminary ruling from Germany. Background The referral was made in the context of litigation between Bastei Lübbe, a German phonogram producer, and Michael Strotzer, the owner of an internet connection through which an infringement was committed in 2010.   The latter submitted that he had not committed the infringement himself and that his internet connection was sufficiently protected. He also argued...

Big Red Can copyright vest in mascots and characters? This, in a nutshell, is the question that the Italian Supreme Court had to address in  Ralph v Mediaset and Others , decision 14635/2018   [Katpat to  Valentina Borgese  for the heads up and the text of the decision] .  The Italian court answered in the affirmative, and provided some helpful guidance on copyright subsistence, derivative works, and infringement. What happened? In 1979 Ralph Carey created what would become the mascot of the Western Kentucky University (WKU) basketball team, a red character named Big Red. In 2009 he brought proceedings before the Milan Court of First Instance against broadcasters RTI and Mediaset and the creator of well-known TV programme  Striscia La Notizia , claiming that the likeness of mascot/TV character Gabibbo (‘operating’ since 1990) would infringe copyright in Big Red. The Milan court sided with Carey: in 2012 it h...

Beyoncé's  Drunk in Love Would you think that products carrying the word FEYONCÉ are sponsored by or affiliated with famous singer Beyoncé, or blur the distinctiveness of her mark?  This is the question at the centr e of  Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter, et al., v.  Feyoncé, Inc. et al. ,  16-CV-2532 (AJN) . The facts The defendants started selling merchandise using the brand name FEYONCÉ, as well as some phrases from Beyoncé's songs. Their products were targeted at the engaged to be married ... that is fiancés. The items were sold through the website feyonceshop.com, as well as etsy.com. The defendants had even tried to obtain US trade mark registrations, but the USPTO refused them on grounds of confusing similarities with the registered BEYONCÉ trade mark. Beyoncé and the entity that owns (lots of) her registered trade marks, BGK Trademark Holdings, brought proceedings against them for:  Federal Trademark Infringement, ex ...