JIPITEC – Journal of Intellectual Property, Information Technology and E-Commerce Law
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How to Build an Orphanage, and Why
Get PDFCurrently, lawmakers on both sides of the Atlantic are struggling with the problem of orphan works. In the impact assessment of its proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the
Council on certain permitted uses of orphan works, the Eurpean Commission mentions six possible ways of dealing with the problem. Three of the six (a statutory exception to copyright; extended collective licensing; an orphan-specific license granted by collecting societies) have each had their heyday during the past few years. This article examines how and why these changes in popularity occurred. In addition, it explains why a limitation on remedies would be the most adequate solution for the problem in Europe
Impulses for an Effective and Modern Data Protection System
Get PDFA substantial reform of data protection law is on the agenda of the European Commission as it is widely agreed that data protection law is faced by
lots of challenges, due to fundamental technical and social changes or even revolutions. Therefore, the authors have issued draft new provisions on data protection law that would work in both Germany and Europe. The draft is intended to provide a new approach and deal with the consequences of such an approach. This article contains some key theses on
the main legislatory changes that appear both necessary and adequate
TV Signal Delivery to Cable Operators and DTH Platform Operators
Get PDFThe paper discusses new business models of transmission of television programs in the context of definitions of broadcasting and retransmission. Typically the whole process of supplying content to the end user has two stages: a media service provider supplies a signal assigned to a given TV channel to the cable operators and satellite DTH platform operators (dedicated transmission), and cable operators and satellite DTH platform operators transmit this signal to end users. In each stage the signals are encoded and are not available for the general public without the intervention of cable/platform operators. The services relating to the supply and transmission of the content are operated by different business entities: each earns money separately and each uses the content protected by copyright. We should determine how to define the actions of the entity supplying the signal with the TV program directly to the cable/digital platform operator and the actions of the entity providing the end user with the signal. The author criticizes the approach presented in the Chellomedia and Norma rulings, arguing that they lead to a significant level of legal uncertainty, and poses the basic questions concerning the notion of “public” in copyright
Creative Commons licences and design Are the two compatible?
Get PDFThis article analyses whether Creative Commons licences are applicable to and compatible with design. The first part focuses on the peculiar and complex nature of a design, which can benefit from a copyright and a design protection. This shows how it can affect the use of Creative Commons licences. The second and third parts deal with a specific case study. Some Internet platforms have recently emerged that offer users the possibility to download blueprints of design products in order to build them. Designers and creative users are invited to share their blueprints and creations under Creative Commons licences. The second part of the article assesses whether digital blueprints can be copyrightable and serve as the subject matter of Creative Commons licences, while the last part assesses whether the right to reproduce the digital blueprint, as provided by Creative Commons licences, extends to the right to build the product
Richtungsweisend oder eine nur begrenzt wahrgenommene Chance? Der Copyright-Code des Wittem-Projekts
Get PDFDer „European copyright code“ des Wittem-Projekts von 4/2010 ist pragmatisch, konstruktiv-konservativ ausgefallen. Traditionell das Werk- und Autorenverständnis. Schrankenregelungen werden über einen hybriden Ansatz offen gehalten. Bildung und Wissenschaft werden nicht gerade verwöhnt. Die Wittem-Gruppe hat sich nicht in den „Treibsand visionärer Modelle“ begeben wollen. Ein guter Text, aber dann doch nicht wirklich wegweisend für den Umgang mit Wissen und Information in elektronischen Räumen, am ehesten noch durch den Vorschlag einer Schrankenbestimmung zur Begünstigung des wirtschaftlichen Wettbewerbs
The Netherlands: Darfurnica, Miffy and the right to parody!
Get PDFThe legal community of the Netherlands let out a sigh of relief in May 2011 when the judgment of the District Court of The Hague in preliminary proceedings was handed down in the Darfurnica case.The same feeling of satisfaction prevailed, more recently, when the Court of Appeal of Amsterdam rendered decision in the Miffy case. Both decisions, rendered on appeal, overruled the judgments of first instance, which had given precedence to the protection of intellectual property rights above the user’s freedom of expression in the form of parody. But freedom of expression, and parody in particular, are solidly anchored in the Dutch values and courts more often than not find in favour of the parodist. Apart from the fact that both decisions offer an interesting analysis of where the limit lies between intellectual property protection and artistic freedom, each decision deserves a few words of commentary in view of some noteworthy particularities
Interoperabilität von Software Art. 6 der Computerprogramm-Richtlinie aus heutiger Sicht
Get PDFThis article reviews Article 6 of the Software Directive and discusses the need for a revision. Beyond clarification of the scope of the very limited provision on reverse engineering, it seems that the introduction of the clause into copyright was unfortunate. The indirect protection of ideas by prohibiting reverse engineering is foreign to the copyright concept. Permitting reverse engineering altogether would promote research and development and further other goals like ICT security. Innovation would not be retarded, which is the reason why US trade secret law permits reverse engineering based also on economic arguments. The notions of compatibility Article 6 tries to address are better dealt with by Competition Law, which was demonstrated by the Microsoft Decision of the European Court in 2007
Memorandum of Understanding Key Principles on the Digitisation and Making Available of Out-of- Commerce Works
Get PDFThe Law Applicable to Online Copyright Infringements int ALI and CLIP Proposals: A Rebalance of Interest Needed?
Get PDFThe article discusses the problems of applicable law to copyright infringements online. It firstly identifies the main problems related to the well established territoriality principle and the lex loci protectionis rules. Then; the discussion focuses on the "ubiquitous infringement" rule recently proposed by the American Law Institute (ALI) and the European Max Planck Group for Conflicts of Law and Intellectual Propoperty (CLIP). The author strongly welcomes a compromise between the territoriality and universality approaches suggested in respect of ubiquitous infringement cases. At the same time; the paper draws the attention that the interests of "good faith" online service providers (such as legal certainty and foreseeability) have been until now underestimated and invites to take these interests into account when merging the projects into a common international proposal
Creative Commons Olympics. How Big Media is Learning to License From Amateur Authors
Get PDFNBC Universal’s decision to use Creative Commons-licensed photographs in an Olympic broadcast is an example of how media conglomerates are experimenting with collaboration with amateurs, but it also reveals potential problems of letting non-lawyers negotiate copyright licensing agreements. In the process, NBC’s producers nearly opened the door for a multimillion-dollar infringement law suit. To avoid such pitfalls, media companies need to adopt policies and best practices for using amateur licensed works. These guidelines should instruct how a production can attribute collaborating authors and how the Open Content licensing terms affect the licensing of the productions. The guidelines should also instruct how producers can seek alternative licensing arrangements with amateurs and contribute back to the Open Content community