THE COPYKAT backs Schrödinger's cat

Some strong words in a letter from Lord Michael Grade on YouTube's position on Article 13 and EU copyright law reform in the Financial Times, with a touch of Brexit to spice it all up. Noting that creativity is something Britain does particularly well at, "and, with the uncertainties of Brexit ahead, is of greater importance as a growing sector of our economy" Lord Grade comments, adding "After years of scrutiny the European Commission, Council and Parliament have concluded YouTube must take some responsibility for the content it publishes. The platform remains in denial, abetted by those who join in its scaremongering" and "The EU is at a crucial stage of considering measures that will end this injustice. The present, and the future is online. Rules need to apply. Netflix pays for its content, why shouldn’t YouTube? If you want to run a TV channel or a music service, then you need to pay for the content you use — content other people have financed. Reform will end this freeloading and level the playing field, which has to be good news for consumers too."

If you want to know what YouTube and Google think - there is a Google sponsored piece on politco.eu here titled "EU’s copyright directive and its unintended consequences" written by 'YouTube for Creators".  Others from the tech world working up are fury (or perhaps 'in denial' or even  'scaremongering' ?) are Gizmodo "Tech Giants Wake Up to EU Copyright Plan That Threatens to Nuke the Web" and BoingBoing which goes with "Poland rejects the EU's copyright censorship plans, calls it #ACTA2" whilst Twitch has sent a letter to the Twitch creators' community

The Australian Government has also rejected loud appeals from the tech community and the tech giants who argue that proposed reforms to copyright law will diminish the internet's primary role as a communications tool and allow corporate interests to 'censor' the internet to the detriment of the common citizen, with TechDirt saying the new system would be 'begging for abuse'. What's all the fus about? Updating its copyright law from one which provides for site-blocking of infringing sites with judicial oversight to one which does website site-blocking of infringing sites, and mirror-blocking without judicial oversight, search results blocking, and expands the definition of the types of sites to be blocked from those with the primary "purpose" of infringement to those with the primary "effect" of infringement: The Australian Parliament passed the new law to beef up web-blocking rules as part of the The Copyright Amendment (Online Infringement) Act 2018 which was passed by the House Of Representatives last month and now by the Senate. The Federal Senate’s Environment and Communications Legislation Committee commented  “The Committee is of the view that the amendments proposed by the bill are likely to improve the operation of the injunctive scheme in section 115A [of the Act], and represent a measured and proportionate response to concerns identified by stakeholders in relation to the operation of that scheme” and “In this respect, the committee also notes that the majority of submissions received by the committee supported the bill and recommended that it be passed unamended.” Welcoming the passing of the amendments, Australia's Minister For Communications, Mitch Fifield said "The government has zero tolerance for online piracy. It is theft and damaging to our creative economy and local creators. We are committed to protecting Australia's creative industries and the world-class content we produce every year. The passage of our legislation today sends a strong message to online pirates that Australia does not tolerate online theft".

Banksy may have pulled off the art world's 'stunt' of the decade at Sotheby's in October when one of his paintings, which had just sold for £1.4 million in October, self shredded as soon as the hammer went down, but now his own YouTube post on the prank have also been 'shredded' - this time it seems by French media giant Canal+ who have successfully argued that the footage of the stunt is theirs, and asked YouTube to remove the original, which it did: "Video unavailable This video contains content from Canal Plus, who has blocked it on copyright grounds,” a message now reads instead.

CMU Daily reports that the estate of late Pantera guitarist ‘Dimebag’ Darrell Abbott has fought off a copyright infringement lawsuit over the sale of replicas of his signature guitar, which features a distinctive lightning bolt design (known as the 'Dean From Hell'). The  US judge in the case has told designer Buddy ‘Blaze’ Webster, who created the artwork in the 1980s, that the time period for him to bring his case to court had now (long) passed. Webster had said that the delay was due to stalled negotiations with Dean Guitars and that he had waited to file his case out of respect for the musician’s mourning family, as well as personal issues of his own. Whilst the judge said that some of these reasons were “admirable”, they did not warrant allowing the delayed case to proceed.

The British artist Anish Kapoor released a statement declaring “victory over the NRA,” in reference to his months-long battle with the National Rifle Association over the organisation’s unauthorised use of an image of his bean-shaped reflective sculpture Cloud Gate (2006) in Chicago’s Millennium Park. Kapoor’s said the NRA has complied with his demands to remove the image from what he called its “abhorrent video” The Violence of Lies, which attacks the mainstream media with inflammatory rhetoric as images (including one of Cloud Gate) flash across the screen. “Their bullying and intimidation [have] not succeeded,” Kapoor’s statement reads. “This is a victory not just in defence of the copyright of my work, but it is also a declaration that we stand with those who oppose gun violence in America and elsewhere.” More on Art News here.

Core copyright industries have contributed more than $1.3 trillion to US gross domestic product (GDP) in 2017, and accounted for 6.85% of the US economy. They employed nearly 5.7 million workers in 2017, accounting for 3.85% of the entire US workforce, or 4.54% of total private employment in the United States, according to the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA)’s “Copyright Industries in the U.S. Economy: The 2018 Report - which is available but only for subscribers to IP-Watch. More details here. 

And finally, an entertaining article on rabble.ca titled "The Schrödinger's cat of copyright: What's an 'orphan work'?" written from a Canadian perspective, and well worth a read. 

The COPYKAT delves into the Oracle for a glimpse of the true part of copyright

Oracle and Google Dispute Over the Use of API’s is Not Over Yet

The dispute between Oracle and Google over Google’s use of copyrighted Java application programming interfaces (APIs) to design the Android operating system has reached another stage. The case which was initially filed in 2010 and included patent infringement claim, has generated a lot of attention in the technology industry [as reported previously here] as it deals with the question whether the use of Java programming language can be considered as fair use and it may have a significant chilling effect on software developers.

Following the jury trial in 2016, which found that the use of APIs by Google was acceptable, last week the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington DC has reversed their ruling and decided to send the case back for trial in San Francisco in order to determine the amount of damages. The main issue that was considered by the court was whether Google’s use of copyrighted material was transformative, in order to qualify for the fair use defence. Google argued that it took selected parts of the API code and created its own interpretation for the purpose of creating new functionality. In the view of the appellate court, Google’s actions cannot be considered as transformative as “the copying is verbatim, or an identical function and purpose, and there are no changes to the expressive content or message”. Additionally, the fact that there is a mere change in the format  “(e.g., from desktop and laptop computers to smartphones and tablets) is insufficient as a matter of law to qualify as a transformative use”. Nonetheless, the court has not dismissed the possibility of using a fair use defence where the case involves copying of the computer code. As estimated in 2016 by IP research company Ocean Tomo, Oracle was seeking $9 billion in damages and profits from Google for selling allegedly infringing product. At the same time Google has made over $42 billion in revenues from advertising on Android. With the trial on the issue of costs in the Ninth Circuit, this is the space to watch.

A Google spokesperson commented on the judgment that “[t]his type of ruling will make apps and online services more expensive for users” and said that it is considering next steps in the case. Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) believes that this case “should never have reached this stage” as the works should not be eligible for the copyright. As observed by Corynne McSherry, legal director for the EFF, this decision will have a great implication for small software firms and brings legal uncertainty for large number of software developers. In effect, the uncertainty can result in reduced rate of innovation.

The EU Commission Publishes Notice to Stakeholders on the Effects of Brexit in the Field of Copyright

The EU Commission has published a document outlining the effects of Brexit in the field of copyright. Subject to any transnational agreement between the United Kingdom and the European Union, as of withdrawal date, i.e. 30 March 2019 00:00 (CET), the EU rules in the field of copyright “will no longer apply for the United Kingdom”. Unless the parties to the negotiations will not agree otherwise, the relationship between them will be governed by the multilateral, international treaties, such as the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty (WCT), the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT) and the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). Accordingly, the principles of ‘most favoured nation’ and ‘national treatment’ under TRIPS agreement will apply.

The paper notes that that under the obligations of the multilateral treaties and with no “counterpart in the international conventions”, the level of protection will differ in relation to certain rights and where applicable “exceptions or limitations to those rights as that set out today in the EU copyright acquis”. On of examples is Directive 93/83/EEC, which allows broadcasters to clear the copyright only in the Member State where the signal is introduced. Following Brexit, the UK broadcasters will no longer benefit from this mechanism when providing cross-border transmissions and will be obliged to clear the rights in each of the Member States where the transmission occurs. Similarly, broadcasters in the EU providing cross-border satellite broadcaster services to the UK customers will have to secure the rights of the relevant rightholders. Additionally, after the Brexit date the EU collective management rights organisations will no longer be obliged to represent collective management rights organisations based in the UK for multi-territorial licensing. Orphan works which have been recognised in the UK will no longer be recognised in the EU under Directive 2012/28/EU. Persons from the UK will not be able to obtain accessible format copies from authorised entities in the EU under Directive (EU) 2017/1564 which allows on certain permitted uses of certain works for the benefit of persons who are blind, visually impaired or otherwise print-disabled. UK nationals will no longer be entitled “to maintain or obtain a sui generis database right in respect of databases in the EU” and correspondingly EU Member States nationals will not be able to obtain such right for the databases in the UK. The withdrawal of the UK from the EU will also affect the effect of Regulation (EU) 2017/1128 (entered into force on 1 April 2018) for UK nationals who will not be able to benefit from their digital content subscriptions when travelling to the EU.

UK Government Releases New Strategy Plan for Tackling Copyright Infringement Online 

Countries are taking more and more steps  to tackle piracy online - where a number of internet users distribute massive file-sharing infrastructure or share pirated live sports streams.

Last week has seen the publication of ‘Industrial Strategy’ plan in the UK which outlines strategy on how the Government and the creative industries can work together to protect rights of copyright holders. As observed in the document “online piracy continues to be a serious inhibitor to growth in the creative industries. Technologies like stream ripping and illicit streaming devices enable illegitimate access to content without rewarding its creators”. Such situation creates a growing concern for right holders about how their works are exploited online. In order to tackle the problem, the Government plans to host a series of roundtables with rightholders, social media companies and online marketplaces with the aim of brokering voluntary anti-piracy agreements. The measures to be introduced, one of which includes upload filters, “could include proactive steps to detect and remove illegal content, improving the effectiveness of notice and takedown arrangements, reducing incentives for illegal sites to engage in infringement online and reducing the burdens on rights holders in relation to protecting their content”. If such measures will fail to produce the desired outcome by 31 December 2017, the Government will consider further legislative actions in order to strengthen the UK copyright framework. At the same time, the UK Government is planning to address the problem of the so-called ‘value gap’ [read here] in both the UK and in Europe and is planning to make an additional £2 million available to support ‘Get it Right’ campaign. The aim of the action is to “educate consumers on the dangers of copyright infringement and direct them towards legitimate sources of creative content online”. The Government hopes that its action will help to build on the “UK’s position as a global leader and strengthen its advantage as a creative nation by increasing the number of opportunities and jobs in the creative industries across the country, improving their productivity, and enabling (…) to greatly expand our trading ambitions abroad”.

Australian Rightholders Want to Force Search Engines to De-list Pirate Sites

Similarly, Australian Government aims to tackle the problem of copyright infringement online and in February it has announced a review of its pirate site-blocking laws. The Department of Communications asked for feedback on how effective is the mechanism that was introduced in the Copyright Amendment (Online infringement) Act 2015. So far there were several responses from rightholders, which mainly came from the entertainment industry with the aim to expand the scope of the protection. As reported by Torrentfreak, one of the most ‘aggressive submissions’ arrived from the movie group Village Roadshow and TV provider Foxtel. Both entities were successful in having a number of websites blocked by local ISPs in Australia and now they would like to expand the law that would require online service platforms to block the websites with infringing content. As written by Graham Burke, Village Roadshow co-chief, “with all major pirate sites blocked in Australia, the front door of the department store is shut. However, pirates, facilitated by Google and other search engines, are circumventing Australian Laws and Courts and opening a huge back door”. In his view search engines and online platforms should be required to take reasonable steps in order to stop facilitating searches that lead to pirate sites. With an increasing number of links to illegal content appearing on online platforms, the rightholders want to include them in the scope of the legislation. Foxtel also observed a need to improve tackling live streaming, basing its observations on the framework of injunctions obtained in the UK last year by the Premier League and UEFA, which enable to block websites with pirated live sports streams. In their view similar framework should be available in the Courts of Australia.

Owner of Sharebeast.com Sentenced for Illegally Distributing Copyrighted Materials

In the US, Artur Sargsyan, owner of the  Sharebeast.com, Newjams.net and Albumjams.com, has been sentenced for the crime of criminal copyright infringement for private financial game. His website has contained an enormous file-sharing infrastructure consisting of around 1 billion copies of copyrighted musical works that were available for download. At the same time the websites contained pop-up advertisements, which allowed Sargsyan to make a significant profit from the number of visitors downloading works from his websites. US District Judge Timothy C Batten has sentenced Mr Sargsyan to five years imprisonment to be followed by three years of supervised release. Additionally, he will be required to pay restitution in the amount of $458,200 and forfeit $184,769. As observed by US Attorney Byung J Pak, “Sargsyan operated one of the most successful illegal music sharing websites on the Internet”. The case was investigated by the FBI and a number of warnings have been sent to Mr Sargsyan to stop violating the law by illegally hosting and sharing copyrighted works. David J LaValley, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta says that Mr Sargsyan’s sentence “sends a message that no matter how complex the operation, the FBI, its federal partners and law enforcement partners around the globe will go to every length to protect the property of hard working artists and the companies that produce their art”. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has estimated the total monetary loss to its member companies at $6.3 billion.

Judge has Rejected Motion to Dismiss Copyright Lawsuit Over LeBron James Tattoo

Can a tattoo be protected by copyright? That is the issue which is at stake in in a multi-million dollar lawsuit between Solid Oak Sketches (which claims to acquire rights from various tattoo artists linked with NBA superstars) and Take-Two, publisher of the NBA 2K video game [as we have previously reported here]. Until 2016, when the case was brought, there was no decision rendered that would declare that tattoo designs can be considered as copyrightable work. Take-two in response to the lawsuit has filed a motion to dismiss the action as according to them the use of tattoos “was too fleeting to be considered an infringement” and was displayed briefly. As contented by the Plaintiff, “if an NBA2K player selects Messrs. James, Martin and Bledsoe in a (…) game (…), or 'employs the broad range of the video game’s features to focus, angle the camera on, or make the subject tattoos more prominent,' 'the overall observability of the subject tattoos can be fairly significant”. The US District Court Judge Laura Taylor Swain having heard both parties was not ready to adjudicate on the issue quickly. Therefore, she denied the motion to dismiss lawsuit on the basis of de minimis use and ordered more fact-finding in order to resolve the matter at a later stage of the case. In relation to fair use defence, the defendant argued that with their motion being denied, Solid Oak will now be able “to use that decision to shakedown each of the publications and television programs in which those players have appeared”. Despite those arguments, because of the difficulties inherent in conducting a side-by-side comparison of the video game and the Tattoos,” the judge has refused to dismiss the case. Therefore, she decided to order gathering of further evidence in connection with “the fact-intensive question of the applicability of the fair use defense”. It will be interesting to watch the further developments in the case as it might set a precedent on whether tattoos can be protected by copyright and how such protection can affect its bearers and companies willing to creatively depict them. 

Gospel-shocker

In South Africa an almighty row is brewing over a rights scandal alleged to be the "biggest music rights scam in South African history". At the heart of the complaint is SAMRO, the Southern African Music Rights Organisation established by the South African Copyright Act: now the South African Minister of Arts and Culture Nathi Mthethwa has noted "with grave concern" the article published in City Press and News 24 Online News platforms on 1st April 2018 into what is “alleged to be the biggest music rights scam in South African history involving the legendary and multi-platinum selling gospel artist Hlengiwe Mhlaba. The report goes into worrying detail into the alleged theft over a period of years of royalties amounting to millions of rand due to the artist in question."

The Minister has given a directive to the legal unit of the Department of Arts and Culture to immediately initiate a process which will culminate in the appointment of a Commission that will be headed by a retired Judge. More here on the allegations made against SAMRO here https://city-press.news24.com/News/gospel-shocker-how-black-musicians-got-screwed-20180401 and the Chief Executive of SAMRO, Nothando Migogo, responds here  http://www.samro.org.za/news/articles/samro-ceo-response-media-reports

This update by Mateusz Rachubka 

THE COPYKAT

This CopyKat from Mateusz Rachubka

Increased Royalty Payments for Songwriters in the US

The US Copyright Royalty Board decided to increase the amount of royalty payments that companies such as Apple, Spotify, Amazon, Google and Pandora would have to make to songwriters and music publishers over the next five years. The streaming companies would now be required to pay 15.1 percent of their revenue, comparing to the previous rate of 10.1 percent. As described by NMPA President & CEO David Israelite, in practical terms “the CRB raised rates for songwriters by 43.8%” and this decision also allows the songwriters to benefit from any agreements concluded by record labels in the free market. As a result the ratio between what “labels are paid by the services versus what publishers are paid” will now significantly improve. Additionally, the CRB has introduced a late fee, up to 18 percent annually, in case any royalty revenue is not paid on time by the streaming company. Although music creators did not manage to get ‘per-stream rate’, the songwriters consider increase in overall rates as a success in the market which is currently dominated by the streaming companies. 

US Senate Introduced the CLASSICS Act 

Senators, both from Republican and Democratic parties, have introduced the CLASSICS Act (Compensating Legacy Artists for their Songs, Service, & Important Contributions to Society), which would impose an obligation on digital services to pay both rightholders and artists for the use of recordings that were created pre-1972. Under the current legal framework, the way in which digital music services pay to use recordings made after 1972 is covered by federal copyright law, whereas the use of works created before 1972 is regulated by state law. This situation has led to many questions and complicated litigation in several states. With the versions of CLASSICS Act introduced in the Senate, now the rates for the use of both pre and after 1972 recordings for digital services will be the same and paid in an identical way. Introduction of the bill will also enable digital platforms to settle any outstanding claims with rightholders, in California. This will allow services to avoid state infringement lawsuits. Nevertheless, in order to do so digital music services would have to pay three years’ worth royalties at the current statutory rate for all the music they have used across the whole country.

The Big Entertainment Companies are Campaigning For Changes in Copyright in NAFTA Negotiations

Recently we have reported that the debate over introduction of ‘Safe Harbour’ provisions to NAFTA agreement is heating up. Now Public Knowledge has explored the proposals that were suggested by the lobbyists for the big entertainment companies. One of the ‘wildest ideas’ was a recommendation not to include ‘Safe Harbour’ provisions into NAFTA. In the view of the lobbyists, they “facilitate child pornography and human trafficking” by allowing internet intermediaries to avoid responsibility for any content that is published on their services. This argument according to Gus Rossi is highly misleading. He argues that without a legal framework exempting online platforms from responsibility for context posted by their users, the intermediaries “would be obligated to censor and control everything their users do on their platforms”.

Another argument proposed by the entertainment industries is that exceptions and limitations are unnecessary in trade agreement, claiming that they are “a barrier to the protection of American artists”. Rossi, again, considers this proposal as widely inaccurate. In fact, in the digital age the US copyright system would not be able to work without fair use provisions. Therefore, the author suggests that with the importance of current negotiations of NAFTA, which may be used in the future as a standard of ‘American-sponsored free trade agreements’, it is important to fight any misconceptions and protect a balanced approach to copyright.

Is the Current Copyright Law Framework in Australia a Deterrent for Creators?

With the ongoing debate on potential reform of copyright law in Australia and adoption of fair use approach, recently two reports were issued, which show that the current framework allowing for narrow ‘fair dealing’ exceptions is considered as a barrier to innovation. Deloitte in its ‘Copyright in the Digital Age’ paper argues that digital technologies could contribute over $139 billion by 2020 to Australian economy if the legal framework will support innovation and allow to maximise opportunities. The study of Australian Digital Alliance revealed that the creators struggle to understand copyright law. For many of them the exceptions are often confusing and seeking permission to reuse copyrighted content often results in expensive fees and time delays. Therefore, suggestions have been made that Australia should reform its framework and follow such countries like the US, South Korea or Sri Lanka, which have broader exceptions to the use of copyrighted content. Fair use provides that each use is assessed on its own merits and does not need to fall within a specific predetermined category. The authors of the report claim that transition to fair use would enable innovation, facilitate new uses of copyright materials, particularly in such areas as data mining and cloud computing, and ultimately lead to “a more competitive and creative (…) society”.

Rightholders Want to Address ‘Value Gap’ Under the EU Copyright Directive

A coalition of rightholder organisations has addressed the new Presidency of the Council of the European Union, currently held by Bulgaria, to find a solution to the issue of ‘Value Gap’ (the Transfer of Value). The Value Gap arises in the situation where there is a “mismatch between the value that online User Uploaded Content (‘UUC’) website services extract from creative content and the revenues returned to the creative community”. With vast amount of content being uploaded by users, the UUC sites generate revenue from the infringing content. At the same time the UUC websites refuse to negotiate “fair or any copyright licences” with rightholders. Therefore, the creators believe that the proposal for Copyright Directive, which is currently being negotiated by the European Parliament and EU member states, should clarify two elements. First of all, that the “UUC services communicate to the public under the EU copyright framework and therefore are obliged to obtain licences for copyright protected works, unless eligible for e-Commerce Directive ‘safe harbours’”. Secondly, those UUC services that play an ‘active role’ in promotion of the content, should not be able to benefit from ‘safe harbour’ provisions.

The issue of Value Gap was also addressed by the President and Vice-President of CISAC. In their open letter to MEPs, Jean-Michel Jarre and Angelique Kidjo noted that the copyright reform offers “a historic opportunity to bring fairer remuneration for creators and drive economic growth and jobs in the creative industries”. Therefore, in their view the EU law should not shield UUC platforms, which “make vast revenues from creative works while not fairly rewarding the creators”. Thousands of artists and authors supporting the European Commission’s proposal believe that with a reform of safe harbour the new copyright Directive  will offer an opportunity to “shape fairer digital market for creators in the 21^stcentury”.  

For further debate on remedying the Value Gap under the proposal for Directive on copyright in the Digital Single Market go here, and here.

If you would like to support European screenwriters and directors in their call for a modernised EU Copyright framework, please click here.

Does One Have to be a Copyright Owner to Sue Over a False Copyright Takedown?

That was the question in the dispute between ISE Entertainment, and Civillico and Longarzo. ISE claimed that it owns rights to ‘The Weekend in Vegas’ ABC show, which until recently the viewers could also download on Amazon.com. The show was however removed following an infringement notice submitted by Civillico and Longarzo. According to Civillico he owned the rights in the show and ISE by being in breach of a deal had no authority to use his work. ISE sued both parties for allegedly violating DMCA section 512(f) by submitting a fraudulent takedown notice. The defendants argued that ISE had never registered the show for copyright, nor applied for a registration and therefore had no standing to make a claim under section 512(f).

This argument was rejected by the US District Court Judge Fitzgerald. DMCA section 512(f) provides that an ‘alleged infringer’ may recover damages from when harmed by misrepresentation that material or activity is infringing (here fraudulent takedown notice). In the view of the Court “neither copyright ownership nor registration are prerequisites to bring” action under section 512(f). Therefore, the Court concluded that ISE as an ‘alleged infringer’ had standing to sue and that ISE has stated a viable 512(f) claim.

Google Will Improve Attribution of Contributors’ Works in its Image Search

Google has reached agreement with Getty Images over a ‘multi-year’ licence, which will end the European Commission complaint, where Getty “had accused Google of effectively being a one-stop piracy shop”. Getty claimed that the users of Google could simply view and download “high-resolution, copyrighted content”, which accordingly enabled copyright infringement and piracy. As revealed by the parties, Google has agreed to reform its approach to copyright in its image search function. The search will now include more prominent copyright disclaimers and will remove view image links to the image URL. In return Google will be able to use Getty Images’ content in its products and services.

CREATes need you!

The  School of Law and CREATe Centre at the University of Glasgow have Two CREATe-related roles now available at the University of Glasgow. There is an opportunity to join the School of Law and CREATe at an exciting point in our development, as part of the University of Glasgow’s ongoing investment in the creative economy. Two positions are now available, as Lecturer in Intellectual Property Law and Graduate Teaching Assistant, at the School of Law-hosted Centre for Copyright & New Business Models in the Creative Economy (CREATe), an international copyright research hub established in 2012 with research funding from the AHRC, EPSRC and ESRC. Please click here to read more about the roles  http://www.create.ac.uk/blog/2018/01/29/two-create-related-roles-now-available-at-the-university-of-glasgow/ 

Informal enquiries about both the above positions may be directed to Professor Martin Kretschmer (Professor of Intellectual Property Law and Director of the CREATe Centre).  Email: [email protected] and Tel: +44 141 330 3886

The CopyKat Strikes Back - May the Festivities be With You!

It is that time of year again folks. People are celebrating, children are overcome with excitement and everyone can't stop talking about it. All waiting for that time when we can gather round with our loved ones and watch STAR WARS!

With the launch of the latest film in the franchise, the Disney production engine has been in overdrive. This has led to a number of related interesting stories which we will share with you in this copykat alongside our regular helping of non-Star Wars related copykat content.

Star Wars lawsuits: who has Lucasfilm sued and why?

This first piece is an oldie but a goodie from late 2016. This article highlights the commercial power of Lucasfilm and Star Wars. Also it is important to point out that Star Wars, or more specifically a storm trooper helmet, was the key point of contention in the regularly cited case of Lucasfilm Ltd v Ainsworth (2011). The Supreme Court ruled in 2011 that the helmets were indeed functional props, and not sculptures for the purpose of copyright protection, meaning that that Ainsworth was free to continue manufacturing the replica outfits.

Lego Wins Its First Copyright Court Case in China Against Bela

Lego A/S, Europe’s biggest toymaker, said it won its first copyright court case in China.

The China Shantou Intermediate People’s Court has ruled that products under the name Bela, sold by two Chinese companies, infringed upon Lego’s copyrights, the building block maker said in a statement Thursday. The ruling was made in September, but the appeal window only ended last month, Lego said.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai Faces Multiple Copyright Infringement Lawsuits — Starting With ‘Harlem Shake’

FCC chairman Ajit Pai shot a cheeky video about net neutrality on Thursday.  He now faces the possibility of multiple copyright infringement lawsuits and millions of dollars in damages. This morning, at least one copyright owner vowed to launch a major lawsuit against Pai, the Federal Communications Commission, or both. 

The video has already amassed millions of views across Facebook, YouTube, and other outlets. The video also uses iconic music from both Game of Thrones and the Star Wars franchises. Both franchises are obviously worth immense amounts of money, with Star Wars holding billions of dollars in copyright IP.

Dr. Seuss and Star Trek Mashup Comic Isn’t Fair Use After All, Judge Says

Okay this one is not strictly Star Wars, though we feel it is close enough to merit inclusion.

A judge has allowed a lawsuit to proceed against the creators of Oh, the Places You’ll Boldly Go!—a nearly page-for-page remix of the Dr. Seuss classic Oh, the Places You’ll Go! and Star Trek. This decision reverses an earlier ruling.

After receiving a new court filing, US District Judge Janis Sammartino found that ComicMix, the company behind the new work, could not so easily have the case dismissed: “Thus, after again weighing the fair use factors, the Court finds Defendants’ fair use defense fails as a matter of law,” Judge Sammartino wrote in a December 7 order.

Steam Purged of Pepe Emoticons After Creator Files Copyright Claim

If, for some godforsaken reason, you’ve been trying to collect every achievement and emoticon featuring Pepe The Awful Meme Frog on Steam, I’ve got some bad news for you: many of them are gone. Pepe images that players could earn by playing games like Fergus The Fly and, tellingly, Make America Great Again: The Trump Presidency have been replaced with a simple message: “Emoticon art currently unavailable due to DMCA takedown notice submitted on behalf of Matt Furie.”

Google, Tech Firms At Odds With Content Creators Over Australian Copyright Safe Harbour Ruling

Google and members of Australia's technology sector have urged the government to reconsider excluding them from changes to safe harbour, while the content sector has applauded the decision to not extend the copyright provisions to digital commercial entities.

The government's reforms, revealed by The Australian Financial Review last Wednesday, seek to extend safe harbour provisions to education institutions and libraries as well as the disability, archive and culture sectors.

Safe harbour provisions give immunity to service providers when users upload copyright-infringing material as long as they are taking reasonable steps to remove infringing content from their platforms.

Houston Jury Awards Energy Publisher $585,000 For Copyright Violations

A federal jury in Houston awarded $585,000 to the publisher of an energy newsletter that accused an investment house of passing around unauthorized copies of its pricey publication.

Energy Intelligence Group, the publisher of 15 newsletters for the oil and gas industry, sued Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors for sharing its five subscriptions of "Oil Daily" with others in the investment firm who did not have their own subscriptions. The jury found that the Los Angeles-based investment firm, which manages $24.5 billion in assets, was liable for copying 39 issues and determined the damages for each instance was $15,000, according to the jury verdict. The trial began Monday, and the jury reached its verdict Thursday.

US Court Dismisses Copyright Infringement Complaint Against GAIN Capital

Online trading services provider GAIN Capital Group LLC has secured a judgement in its favor on Friday, December 15, 2017, as a part of a copyright infringement case launched against it by Tibco Software Inc. Judge Edward J Davila of California Northern District Court has granted GAIN Capital’s Motion to Dismiss the claims for breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing and copyright infringement.

The Court sided with GAIN Capital, with the Judge noting that the copyright infringement claim does not distinguish between Gain Capital’s alleged use of Tibco’s software while a valid license was in effect and the alleged use of the software after the licenses expired. The copyright infringement claim was accordingly dismissed with leave to amend.

Gain Capital has also moved to dismiss the breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing claim as superfluous of the breach of contract claim. The Court agreed that the two claims are nearly identical, and the breach of implied covenant claim was accordingly dismissed with leave to amend too.

Tibco is set to file and serve an amended complaint no later than December 29, 2017.

Playerunknown On Copyright Infringement: 'There's No IP Protection In Games'

Our final story for you copyright fans today poses more of a question for discussion rather than a legal update.

Are computer games being let down by current IP legislation?

This topic is of particular importance to this writer as he is regularly finding himself explaining this sorry state of affairs to up and coming game developers. It seems that in every creative industry where money has flowed, IP protection has found a way to adapt in order to provide some security to those revenue streams. However in the case of computer games or even software, we are left in a situation where the concept of a game can be copied in its entirety, albeit with entirely different physical content, and the original creator is left with little recourse. Though the idea/expression dichotomy weighs heavy in this writers mind, there must be a compromise to be found. Without it we are left in the very poor situation described in the article: "Some amazing games pass under the radar. Then someone else takes the idea, has a marketing budget, and suddenly has a popular game because they ripped off someone else's idea. I think it's something the industry needs to look into. You're protecting the work of artists basically. Games are art for a large part, and so I think it's important they're protected."

This CopyKat by Matthew Lingard