 | INTERNET LAW - Hong Kong’s Criminal Copyright Infringement: What Constitutes a Copy Capable of Distribution? |
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| | Martha L. Arias, IBLS Director
Sunday, September 20, 2009
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| | Hong Kong not only straightened its copyright laws, but its authorities are actively prosecuting copyright violations; a smart move in an increasingly globalized economy. Hence, not always, statutory rules are clear and it is in these cases when courts render legal interpretations. As in any country, statutory interpretations rendered by appellate courts become legal precedents in Hong Kong. This article informs about the Hong Kong's appellate court"s interpretation of a "copy capable of distribution,” as a required element of the criminal offense of copyright infringement; particularly, when applied to Internet distribution of digital copies. [More...] |
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| INTERNET LAW - Pirated Games Played on the XBOX System |
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| | Martha L. Arias, IBLS Director
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
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| | The XBOX system is currently one of the most popular video game systems in the market. Its popularity may be that it (1) contains excellent vivid graphics, (2) can be played by adults, and (3) allows games to be played live through the Internet so people all over the world can connect to play the same game. Thus, when a video game becomes popular, some computer talented people find their way to modify them so the game can be played on the XBOX system. Is this a copyright violation of video games and can courts grant Ex Parte temporary restriction orders? [More...] |
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| INTERNET LAW - Intellectual Property Rights in Argentina |
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| | IBLS Editorial Department
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
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| | Argentina protects copyrights, patents, and trademarks; they are called industrial property rights. This article presents the laws regulating copyrights and trademarks and the basic concepts involved. In addition to these laws, Argentina is signatory to the major treaties of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). [More...] |
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| INTERNET LAW - U.S. Chamber Highlights Impact of Intellectual Property Rights on Job Creation |
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| | IBLS Contributor: U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Alex Burgos, www.uschamber.com
Monday, April 06, 2009
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| | The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Global Intellectual Property Center (GIPC) today partnered with the Confederation of British Industry for the Third Annual Global Intellectual Property Forum in London. Taking place on the eve of the G-20 Summit, today’s discussion focused on the role of intellectual property (IP) rights in stimulating job-creating innovation.
“Protecting and promoting IP is an essential instrument of innovation that will lead to the recession-beating economic growth and job creation that G-20 leaders are pursuing,” said Mark T. Esper, executive vice president of the Chamber’s GIPC. “As the urgency surrounding this week’s G-20 Summit underscores, we are in the midst of very difficult times. And yet, there is hope because we know that all over the world today, entrepreneurs, scientists, researchers and engineers are hard at work in pursuit of the next great inventions that will rejuvenate the global economy.”
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| INTERNET LAW - The European Union Affords Harmonized Protection to Computer Programs |
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| | Martha L. Arias, IBLS Director
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
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| | The European Union acknowledged that the development of the software industry required legislative protection. It specifically acknowledged that copying software involves significantly lower costs than producing it and, therefore, legal protection would incentivize this industry. Also, they recognized the disparity on computer programs protection among its member states. As a result, it implemented Council Directive on the Legal Protection of Computer Programs, 91/250/EEC, in 1991. Its goal was to harmonize member states' laws regarding protection of computer programs and establish protection principles in those member states that had no applicable legislation to this issue. [More...] |
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| INTERNET LAW - United States-India Copyright Treaty |
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| | Martha L. Arias, IBLS Director
Monday, September 15, 2008
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| | Just as China once emerged as the manufacturing outsource centre for U.S. producers, India has emerged as the technological hub, data processing, research, and now paralegal outsource centre. U.S. businesses using these offshore services must be aware of both Indian domestic intellectual property (IP) laws and bilateral intellectual property treaties between these two countries. This article informs on the copyright bilateral treaty between the U.S. and India, which has specific relevance for data processing, research, and paralegal outsource services.
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| INTERNET LAW - Tuning In to Combating Music Piracy in Chile |
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| | IBLS Contributor: Juan Cristóbal Guzmán, Esq., Albagli Zaliasnik Chile, www.az.cl
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
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| | In Chile, over 400 million songs are downloaded unlawfully every year. Piracy has consumed 50 percent of the music market, as reported by the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA).[1] A combination of internet piracy, unlawful reproduction of CDs and DVDs, and the growing presence of street vendors eager to make a profit from the sale of pirated music have contributed to significant losses in the sound recordings and musical composition industries.[2] The IIPA reported that, in 2007, the loss amounted to 29.6 million dollars.
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| INTERNET LAW - Open Source Licenses and Copyright Infringement Claims |
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| | Martha L. Arias, IBLS Director
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
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| | Copyright owners who dedicate their works to free public use can control the future distribution and modification of those works and claim copyright infringement according to a recent decision by a US court of appeals. This decision becomes extremely important for the Internet society where software incubators sites and other copyright holders offer works that can be freely used and, before this decision, were not considered the object of copyright infringement claims.
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| INTERNET LAW - Privileged Revisions v. Copyrights on Works Republished in Databases and other Electronic Forms |
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| | Martha L. Arias, IBLS Director
Monday, August 11, 2008
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| | The transfer of collective copyrighted works from original prints to databases or electronic forms is redefining copyright principles and laws. Copyright holders are filing copyright infringement law suits against publishers who transfer imprint collective works to databases, CD ROMs, and other electronic forms. The question is whether these new publishing forms constitute privileged revisions under US 17 U.S.C.S. § 201(c) or whether they infringe upon the authors' copyrights. [More...] |
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| INTERNET LAW - Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights Act of 2008 |
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| | IBLS Contributor: US Chamber of Commerce - Alex Burgos, Senior Manager Communications
Sunday, August 03, 2008
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| | The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the world's largest business federation representing more than three million businesses and organizations of every size, sector, and region, commends you for introducing S. 3325, the "Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights Act of 2008,” and expeditiously scheduling this legislation for Committee markup on July 31st.
Protecting intellectual property (IP) is critical to America"s future competitiveness and economic security. Counterfeiting and piracy of IP cost U.S. businesses nearly $250 billion in revenue each year and has already caused the loss of an estimated 750,000 American jobs.
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| INTERNET LAW - Basics of Copyrights Laws in France |
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| | IBLS Editorial Department
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
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| | Copyrights in France are regulated by the French Intellectual Property Code and related international agreements. For instance, France is signatory to the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, the Universal Copyright Convention of Geneva, and WIPO Copyright treaty. Additionally, as member of the European Union, France abides by the European Union Directives related to copyrights such as the European convention for the protection of audiovisual heritage, Directive 2001/29/EC, among others. The National Institute of Industrial Property is the government office in charge of regulating copyrights and related in France. This article provides information on the basics of copyrights in France.
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| INTERNET LAW - Cyber-translators are Facing Legal Actions in Spain |
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| | IBLS Editorial Department
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
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| | The Spanish Anti Piracy Federation ("FAP") demanded the operator of a website to shut it down because FAP claims it violates Spanish Copyright laws. The website offers subtitles for movies and television shows that have been translated from, mostly, English original versions. FAP's action against the cyber-translator is not uncommon in the European Union where some countries have already taken legal action against cyber-translators of movies and television shows.
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| INTERNET LAW - Interactive Websites and the Issue of Liability |
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| | Martha L. Arias, IBLS Director
Monday, June 02, 2008
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| | Interactive websites are the new way to get information and participate in developing information. Internet users not only surf the web looking for the desired information but they are now participating in the development of that information either by providing comments, or uploading or sharing data (e.g. YouTube, blogs, Craigslist, etc.); Hence, what is the liability faced by that interactive website? Is the interactive computer service provider liable for content provided by its users? This article briefly explains when and how interactive computer service providers may be liable for third party content.
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| INTERNET LAW - Japan's Protection of Computer Programs |
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| | IBLS Editorial Department
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
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| | Even though copyright laws were not developed envisioning protection of computer programs, the world's tendency to provide copyright protection to computer programs is growing. According to the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic works and the Universal Copyright Convention, once a country provides copyrights protection to domestically-developed computer programs, it must afford the same protection to computer programs developed by foreign persons from countries signatories to these international agreements. This article presents an overview of Japan's protection of computer programs.
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| INTERNET LAW - Beijing Puts First-Ever Piracy Criminal in Jail as Fakes Create One-Third of GDP |
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| | IBLS Editor
Thursday, May 15, 2008
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| | After promising for years to start cracking down on rampant piracy, a Chinese court has now handed down a one-year jail sentence to a Beijing man for selling fake DVDs. This marks the first time a person in the Capital has been convicted and sentenced to prison for the crime of theft of intellectual piracy, according to the Chinese Xinhua news agency. The pirate is Zhou Cheng, 40, who was also fined 10,000 yuan ($1,430) for selling illegally-mastered DVDs at a store in Beijing's Chaoyang district where authorities found 10,000 illegally copied discs. China is the world's biggest source of pirated goods.
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| INTERNET LAW - 11TH Circ. Court Bans Trademarked Search Engine Metatags |
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| | Kelly O'Connell, IBLS Editor
Monday, April 21, 2008
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| | The 11th Circuit Court of Georgia ruled using another's trademarks in meta tags infringes the Lanham Trademark Act, in the case North American Medical Corp. v. Axiom Worldwide, Inc., decided on April 7, 2008. The case was an appeal that reached the same conclusion and concerned "physiotherapeutic spinal devices,” which North American Medical Corp. (“NAM”) and Axiom both market. These are traction devices, typically used to treat such injuries as lower back pain. The lawsuit alleged Axiom engaged in unfair competition by infringing trademarks and by issuing false advertisement. The case pivoted on whether using trademark terms owned by another were commercially “confusing.”
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| INTERNET LAW - Albania Copyright Law |
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| | Kelly O'Connell, IBLS Editor
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
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| | Albania is a smaller state in southeastern Europe, bordering the Adriatic and Ionian Seas, directly across from Italy, and set between Greece in the south and Montenegro and Serbia in the north. The state is working to create a vibrant economy, in part, by embracing the world standard on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) with some notable successes. It declared independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1912, but was conquered by Italy in 1939 during WWII. After the end of the War, the Communists established themselves in 1944. Albania then aligned with the USSR, ending this in 1960, but shifted to an alliance with China until 1978. After concluding Communist rule in the early 1990s, Albania established a multi-party democracy. Many challenges resulted from almost 50 years of socialist rule, such as high unemployment, chronic corruption, widespread decay of buildings, entrenched organized crime networks, and endemic political gridlock. [More...] |
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| INTERNET LAW - UK’s Proposed Internet Anti-Piracy Rule for File-Sharing: Three Strikes and You Are Out |
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| | IBLS Editorial Department
Monday, March 17, 2008
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| | The British government has introduced an Internet Anti-Piracy rule that would require Internet Service Providers ("ISP”) to suspend Internet services from those who engage in illegal downloading of copyrighted material and illegal file-sharing. The proposed rule is similar to a controversial bill presented in France in November 2007 against Internet piracy, and have received the same opposition from ISPs and digital right advocates. If ISP cannot manage to stop illegal downloading or music and movies in the UK, the Government is going to intervene and force ISP to take action against Internet piracy, the UK Government said.
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| INTERNET LAW - How Does the European Union Treat Copyrights in the Information Society? |
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| | IBLS Editorial Department
Monday, February 25, 2008
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| | It is well known that the most of the European Union ("EU)” states are members of the World Intellectual Property Organization (“WIPO”) and signatories of WIPO Copyright treaties. Hence, as an economic block with free transfer of people, goods, and services, the EU required uniform rules on copyrights in the information society (“IS') beyond those rules imposed by international law. Having homogeneous regulations on the treatment of copyrights in the IS facilitates interstate- member information technology transactions, fosters development of the IS in Europe, and easies and confers certainty to resolution of feasible intellectual property conflicts. For these basic reasons and many other complex reasons, the European Parliament and Council introduced Directive 2001/29/EC. As the same Directive states, “A rigorous, effective system for the protection of copyright and related rights is one of the main ways of ensuring that European cultural creativity and production receive the necessary resources and of safeguarding the independence and dignity of artistic creators and performers.” This article briefs some of the most relevant provisions of the European Parliament and Council Directive 2001/29/EC.
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| INTERNET LAW - How to Register Software Products in Colombia |
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| | IBLS Editorial Department
Thursday, February 21, 2008
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| | It is advisable that software producers register their products before the intellectual property office of both their domestic countries and those foreign countries where they are introducing their copyright-protected works. Registration of software in domestic intellectual property office is usually free of charge but a specific process must be followed. Once the software is registered before the appropriate office, it enjoys copyright protection under the current laws and international agreements to which that country is signatory .This article informs on how to register software in Colombia.
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