Topic: Copyright

UPDATE ON COVID-19 : CIPO announces extensions in wake of outbreak in Canada

Given the many challenges faced by all businesses in dealing with the COVID-19 outbreak, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) has advised that it will relax filing deadlines for the remainder of March 2020. This decision was first announced on March 16, 2020 and further updated yesterday, March 19, 2020. What you need to know All … Continue reading

U.S. Copyright Office: New Fees and New Technologies

By Susan Ross (US) on March 12, 2020 Posted in Copyright

If your business discovered that its revenue covered only 70% of its costs, it would be time for a re-examination of operations, both in terms of revenues and costs. The Copyright Office has issued some rule changes affecting both. New Fees According to the U.S. Copyright Office’s notice in the February 19, 2020 Federal Register … Continue reading

Stranger than Sci-Fi: Can (and should) Artificial Intelligence machines own intellectual property?

By Frances Drummond (AU) and Isobel Taylor (AU) on February 24, 2020 Posted in Copyright, General

Artificial Intelligence, or AI, refers to the capability of a machine to imitate intelligent human behaviour. Though it sounds like something out of a sci-fi film, the reality is that AI is quickly becoming a norm in our everyday lives, from the simple AI systems used to sort email inboxes, to complex AI systems known … Continue reading

Securing a Site-blocking Order in Canada: Sure! But how?

By Renaud Garon Gendron and Fortunat Nadima Nadima on December 2, 2019 Posted in Copyright, General

The Federal Court has recently issued an order compelling Internet service providers (ISPs) to block their customers from accessing pirate subscription streaming sites operated by anonymous defendants. Although Bell Media Inc. v. GoldTV.Biz, 2019 FC 1432 is the first decision of its kind in Canada, the Court held that site-blocking orders fall squarely within its … Continue reading

Fakes welcome? IP protection lags behind for Indigenous artworks in Australia

By Helen Macpherson (AU) and Isobel Taylor (AU) on August 12, 2019 Posted in Copyright, General

In a symbolic win for Indigenous artists, the Federal Court of Australia has recently ordered a seller of fake Indigenous-style souvenirs to pay AU$2.3 million in pecuniary penalties for contraventions of the misleading and deceptive conduct provisions of the Australian Consumer Law (ACL). While the Court’s ruling appears to be a positive move in the … Continue reading

Internet (almost) killed the video star: Federal Court grants orders to block ‘ripping’ of music videos

By Harrison Ottaway (AU) on June 27, 2019 Posted in Copyright

In the age of the internet, music videos have persisted on MTV and numerous other television outlets although they have to an extent been challenged by other forms of high-brow entertainment available. Many of them involve house inspections or the rituals of courtships, and sometimes both. Nevertheless, despite these diversions, the Rage is maintained. Justice … Continue reading

Copyright, “fair use,” and educational institutions

By Susan Ross (US) on June 19, 2019 Posted in Copyright

On May 23, 2019, a federal jury unanimously found that the Houston Independent School District willfully infringed 36 of DynaStudy’s copyrighted study guides, and awarded $9.2 million dollars. (DynaStudy, Inc. v. Houston Independent School District, Case No. 4:16-cv-01442 (S.D. Tex. May 23, 2019) (verdict, document #316). As this case illustrates, “educational” use is a very … Continue reading

Shifting Paradigms – A new report for the future of copyright in Canada

By Madeleine Hodgson (CA) on June 5, 2019 Posted in Copyright

Over the past year the House Heritage Committee has been preparing its Shifting Paradigms report which was released in May 2019. The report considers and discusses some of the current challenges and possible solutions pertaining to the ecosystem in which artists work. It also speaks to reinvigorating copyright in Canada. This report is of interest … Continue reading

What lessons can be drawn from the approval of the Directive on Copyright in the digital single market ?

By Clément Monnet on June 5, 2019 Posted in Copyright

On Monday 15 April 2019, the Council of the EU formally approved the Directive on Copyright in the digital single market which was adopted by the European Parliament on Tuesday 26 March 2019. According to the European Commission, the objective of this Directive is to establish a global framework, within which intellectual creations, authors, content … Continue reading

Are you kicking goals when it comes to social media activity, or heading to the sin bin?

By Rebecca Brenikov (AU) and Alyson Poole (AU) on May 12, 2019 Posted in Advertising, Copyright, General

They say that a picture tells a thousand words. But as became apparent in Australia recently, posting a picture on social media can result in a thousand (derogatory and sexist) words. A photograph posted on Twitter by Seven AFL (taken by photographer Michael Wilson), resulted in Australian female AFLW star, Taylor Harris, hitting all the … Continue reading

Copyright vs Freedom of the Internet: Round 1 just passed the European Parliament

By Isobel Taylor (AU) and Georgina Hey (AU) on April 29, 2019 Posted in Copyright

At the end of last month, the European Union Parliament adopted a controversial new “Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market” (Directive). One of the stated aims of the Directive is to give copyright holders such as musicians, artists, performers and authors greater bargaining power against tech giants like Google, YouTube and Facebook in … Continue reading

No safe harbour: Online platforms face choppy waters when it comes to copyright infringement

By Isobel Taylor (AU) and Georgina Hey (AU) on April 23, 2019 Posted in Copyright

The liability of internet intermediaries for copyright infringement is a hot topic of conversation at the moment, both in Australia and overseas. Sweeping reforms have just been passed by the EU Parliament, and Australian copyright legislation in this area has been the subject of significant judicial consideration in recent years. In this article, we consider … Continue reading

When can you sue for copyright infringement in the US?

By Joy Wang (US) on March 12, 2019 Posted in Copyright

On March 4, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court settled a split between federal appeals courts regarding when a copyright owner may sue for copyright infringement.… Continue reading

Canada: Further trademark amendments are here — Bill C-86 is given Royal Assent

By Amy Grenon (CA) on December 18, 2018 Posted in Copyright, Trademark

Canada’s core IP statutes have been amended by Bill C-86, which received Royal Assent as the Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 2, SC 2018, c 27 on December 14, 2018. The final version of the legislation includes amendments to the Trade-marks Act that are substantially identical to the version that received first reading on October … Continue reading

Recent developments for IPR protection in China

By Justin Davidson (HK) on November 12, 2018 Posted in Copyright

On November 5th 2018, at the inauguration ceremony of the first-ever China International Import Expo held in Shanghai, President Xi Jinping reassured investors, especially foreign enterprises, on the administration’s determination to protect their intellectual property rights in China. In the speech, President Xi announced that in order to significantly increase the cost of infringing IPR … Continue reading

Bill C-86 — significant changes to Canada’s IP regime

By Amy Grenon (CA) on November 2, 2018 Posted in Copyright, General, Trademark

The federal government’s recent omnibus budget bill, Bill C-86 tabled October 29th, 2018, proposes significant changes to Canada’s IP laws. Division 7 of the Bill is intended to implement many aspects of the government’s IP strategy announced in April 2018, and targets the Patent Act, the Trade-marks Act, and Copyright Act; provides for a new … Continue reading

Wolverhampton Wanderers

By Jonathan Ball (UK) on October 25, 2018 Posted in Copyright, General

Wolves bare their fangs over copyright infringement claim You’d think that newly promoted Wolverhampton Wanderers would have enough on their plate just ensuring survival in the Premiership. Unfortunately, the club now has another worry given that it has been sued in the intellectual property courts in London by an individual who claims copyright in the … Continue reading

Copyright, cryptocurrency and video games

By Susan Ross (US) on October 16, 2018 Posted in Copyright

Video games, such as Grand Theft Auto®, remain popular around the globe, and two recent matters made headlines on two different aspects of the games: copyright and cryptocurrency. Copyright On August 16, 2018, the federal trial court in Manhattan issued a ruling in a case involving the video game “Grand Theft Auto V” (“GTAV”) and … Continue reading

Amended Australian IP laws receive Royal Assent with little fanfare

By Georgina Hey (AU) and Isobel Taylor (AU) on September 24, 2018 Posted in Copyright, General, Trademark

On 24 August 2018, the creatively named Intellectual Property Laws Amendment (Productivity Commission Response Part 1 and Other Measures) Bill 2018 quietly received Royal Assent, with some parts of the new Act entering into force the following day. As the name indicates, the primary focus of the new legislation is to implement the recommendations made … Continue reading

Public laws, private standards and copyright “fair use”

By Susan Ross (US) on August 1, 2018 Posted in Copyright

On July 17, 2018, the federal appeals court located in Washington, D.C. issued a ruling in a case involving an intersection of copyrighted material (standards) and non-copyrightable material (laws and regulations). The appeals court remanded the matter back to the trial court, to determine under what circumstances a non-profit organization could publish private standards as … Continue reading

Trial Court ruling: game over Team Copyright

By Susan Ross (US) on June 22, 2018 Posted in Copyright

We had previously covered the March 22, 2017 U.S. Supreme Court copyright ruling on designs on cheerleader uniforms. In Star Athletica, L.L.C. v. Varsity Brands Inc., a majority of the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the two-dimensional designs on cheerleaders uniforms were at least in theory eligible for copyright protection. On August 10, 2017, seven … Continue reading

U.S. Copyright Office proposes new fee schedule – updated

By Susan Ross (US) on June 5, 2018 Posted in Copyright

If your business discovered that its revenue covered only 60% of its costs, it would be time for a re-examination of operations. According to the U.S. Copyright Office’s notice in the May 24, 2018 Federal Register (83 Fed. Reg. 24054), historically, the fees collected by the Copyright Office covered only 60% of its costs. It … Continue reading

Career Step – Lessons on joint authorship of copyright

By Sophie Lees (AU) on May 3, 2018 Posted in Copyright

A recent decision of the Federal Court of Australia, Career Step, LLC v TalentMed Pty Ltd (No 2) [2018] FCA 132 (Career Step) provides a useful reminder of the principles that apply when determining whether a new copyright work is the result of joint authorship. Joint Authorship – what does the law say? The question … Continue reading

Deadline Approaching: Get a DMCA Agent Registration by December 31, 2017

By Susan Ross (US) on November 15, 2017 Posted in Copyright

We wanted to remind our readers that, as of January 1, 2018, all paper designation of “notice and takedown” agents will become invalid. As we have previously written, in order to have a valid “notice and takedown” procedure in the copyright laws (the Digital Millennium Copyright Act), the website owner must designate an agent to … Continue reading