The world of copyright law is constantly evolving and adapting to changes and innovations. No case better captures this ongoing evolution than the recent American decision of WNET, THIRTEEN, FOX TELEVISION STATIONS, INC. v. AEREO, INC.
An intermediate bulk container (IBC) was the subject of an ongoing patent suit between exclusive UK licensee of the patent, Schütz (U.K.) Limited (Schütz), and Werit UK Limited (Werit). IBC’s are bulk liquid shipping containers with wire frames surrounding a plastic container in order to improve structural stability. IBCs are designed this way in order to […]
Bill C-56, the “Combating Counterfeit Products Act”, went through its first reading on March 1st 2013. The primary goal of the bill, from the perspective of the government, is to modernize our infringement legislation in order to better protect consumers and businesses from counterfeit goods.
The UK Patents County Court recently released the decision of Henderson v All Around the World; a case involving a copyright claim by a young artist whose song became an unexpected hit. Jodie Henderson (aka Jodie Aysha) was in her mid-teens when she wrote a song called “Heartbroken” which was recorded and remixed by Tafazwa […]
Football Dataco Ltd and others v Stan James plc and others v Sportradar Gmbh and another (hereafter “Dataco”) involved the use of a database by an unauthorized person. While the decision itself deals primarily with database rights, the court makes one finding which has implications outside of the area of database protection.
Peter DiCola, assistant professor at Northwestern University School of law recently released a study on the income earned by musicians from copyright protected sources. The goal of the study, entitled Money from Music: Survey Evidence on Musicians’ Revenue and Lessons About Copyright Incentives, was to analyze empirical evidence in order to justify the incentive theory of copyright law.
The Tokyo branch of Sony Corp. (creators of the Playstation 3 gaming system) filed a U.S. patent application in December 2012 for technology which would effectively put an end to second-hand game sales. The problem with second-hand “resell” games is that Sony doesn’t generate any income from the transactions. The patent application theorizes a method which would […]
The recent UK decision of Fairstar Heavy Transport NV v Adkins & Anor dealt with the question of whether someone could have a proprietary right to an email. However, rather than contemplating the copyright rights to an email, the claim dealt with a more abstract proprietary right.
Hostess, the brilliant minds behind the TwinkieTM, filed for a motion to wind down business operations as the result of being unable to reach an agreement with the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM). Though the company itself suffered from an inflated cost structure, their trade-marks, which include TwinkieTM, Ding DongsTM and WonderTM (bread), still […]
A Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPA) between the People’s Republic of China and Canada is now in the final stages before ratification. FIPAs are designed to reduce the risk of foreign investment by establishing national obligations to foreign investors.