Category Archives: Entertainment & Content

Posted on March 29th, 2019 By Penny Thornton, Lucy Adelman and Jamie Pollock Posted in Data Protection & Privacy, Entertainment & Content, Internet

UK House of Lords Select Committee calls for a Digital Authority to regulate the online world

On 9 March 2019, the House of Lords Select Committee on Communications published its report on “Regulating in a digital World”. It included a number of recommendations to the government, including 10 guiding principles for the development of regulation online, a new public interest test for data driven mergers and a new Digital Authority, to oversee regulation of the digital world. The Select Committee on Communications is appointed by the House of Lords “to look at a broad range of communication and broadcasting public policy issues and highlight areas of

Posted on March 22nd, 2019 By Eugene Low and Anthonia Ghalamkarizadeh Posted in Advertising, Broadcasting, Entertainment & Content, Intellectual Property, Internet, Technology

Webinar: From homes to stadiums – Brand presence in esports

On 27 and 28 March, our global IP team will take a look at some of the emerging opportunities and risks for brand owners exploring opportunities in the esports market: from innovative advertising and marketing activities during tournaments and within games, sponsorship of tournaments or teams, to merchandise and fan items (see earlier post here). Esports refers to competitive video gaming at a professional level, with competitors playing matches in arenas with huge live and online audiences, accompanied by match commentators. The buzz and spectacle accompanying those matches, as well as

Posted on December 20th, 2017 By Penny Thornton, Nils Rauer and Alastair Shaw Posted in Copyright, Digital Single Market (EU), Entertainment & Content

Draft regulation on online transmissions and retransmissions – EP ready to negotiate with Council and Commission

Drama at the European Parliament: whoever thought the dispute within the Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI) around the adoption of a new regulation dealing with online transmissions by broadcasters and retransmissions (COM(2016) 594 final) could not become more exciting when JURI voted on its final report at the end of November, was wrong. The rapporteur Tiemo Wölken made a last attempt for new negotiations on the final report prior to the first reading in the EP – and failed. Now, the EP is “ready to start talks with EU governments

Posted on December 5th, 2017 By Nils Rauer and Penny Thornton Posted in Copyright, Entertainment & Content

CJEU rules on Cloud Recorder: Transmission constitutes a communication to the public that requires the right holders consent

On 29 November 2017, the European Court of Justice (CJEU) handed down a decision on a video recording service that stores TV programmes online in a cloud (C-265/16 – VCAST). According to the Court, the cloud recording service has a dual function that enables its users to create reproductions on the one hand but also makes copyright protected works publicly available on the other. The means by which the TV program is communicated to the public differs from the means of the original transmission. Therefore, the transmission constitutes a communication

Posted on August 3rd, 2017 By Alya Bloum Posted in Copyright, Entertainment & Content, Policy & Regulation

French Supreme Court: Internet intermediaries must pay for blocking measures against illegal streaming websites

On 6 July 2017, the French Supreme Court (Cour de cassation) confirmed a decision of the Paris court of appeal dated 15 March 2016 (RG No. 040/2016) which held that Internet intermediaries must bear the costs for implementing blocking measures against illegal streaming websites. Legal background Article L. 336-2 of the French intellectual property Code (“IPC”) allows rights holders to seek a Court order to have intermediaries (such as Internet Service Providers) implement measures to cease or prevent online copyright infringement. This article is the transposition into French law of

Posted on July 17th, 2017 By Meghan Rissmiller Posted in Advertising, Entertainment & Content

Moving Beyond #Ad: Instagram Unveils New Tool for Disclosing Endorsements

Instagram recently rolled out a new feature to a select group of its users who use the social media platform for promotional purposes. This tool allows influential users to add a new subheading to posts that reads “Paid partnership with…” It is designed to help users clearly and conspicuously tag the brand that sponsors a post. The announcement comes just two months after the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) focused its attention, for the first time, on influential Instagram users and raised concerns about whether certain users were violating FTC Endorsement

Posted on June 21st, 2017 By Alastair Shaw, Nils Rauer, Penny Thornton and Eva Vonau Posted in Copyright, Digital Single Market (EU), Entertainment & Content, Policy & Regulation

DSM Watch: EU online content services Portability Regulation will become law in its current form: Council adoption 8 June 2017

DSM Watch has been tracking this, the first legislative proposal published by the Commission under the Digital Single Market strategy banner, since back in December 2015. The Commission’s aim was to allow consumers who pay for online content services in their home country to access them when visiting another country within the EU.

Posted on May 2nd, 2017 By Nils Rauer, Penny Thornton and Eva Vonau Posted in Copyright, Entertainment & Content

CJEU rules on sale of multimedia players with add-ons to illegal streaming websites

There is no end in sight regarding CJEU decisions on the meaning of “communication to the public“. On 26 April 2017, the European Court of Justice (CJEU) ruled (C-527/15 – Filmspeler) that the sale of a multimedia player with pre-installed add-ons that contained links to illegal streaming websites constitutes a copyright infringement. At the same time, the court clarified that the exemption for acts of temporary reproduction under Article 5(1) of the InfoSoc Directive 2001/29 did not apply. The Case The case was referred to the CJEU by a Netherlands

Posted on February 17th, 2017 By Penny Thornton, Nils Rauer and Eva Vonau Posted in Copyright, Entertainment & Content

Hyperlinking in Hamburg and Prague: How national courts apply GS Media

On 8 September 2016, the European Court of Justice (CJEU) handed down judgment C-160/15 on the means of hyperlinking which caught quite some attention. It has become known as the GS Media decision (see our blog post). In essence, this CJEU judgment imposed new verification duties on commercial website owners who embed hyperlinks to third-party content in their web sites. A Swedish court was first to apply the new criteria (Attunda Tingsrätt, case ref.: FT 11052-15) and now, judgments in Germany and the Czech Republic which deal with the new

Posted on February 13th, 2017 By Nathaniel Boyer and Dori Ann Hanswirth Posted in Copyright, Entertainment & Content

Paul McCartney chants ‘Get Back’ again – The Future of Copyright Termination

The US Copyright Act of 1976 allows artists, writers, and musicians to “get back” grants of copyrights that had been previously licensed or assigned away. Specifically, artists can “terminate” their copyright arrangements simply by serving notice upon the grantee between 46 and 59 years after the date that the rights were granted. This means that, for the hit songs of the 1960s and 1970s, the window during which copyright termination notices may be served is now upon us—and, of course, litigation sometimes follows. Sir Paul McCartney served just such copyright

Posted on December 14th, 2016 By Sheri Jeffrey, Kevin Garland, Jun Wei, Lu Zhou and Nolan Shaw Posted in Entertainment & Content, Policy & Regulation

Now playing: New film law impacts the Chinese silver screen

On November 7, 2016, the People’s Republic of China’s highest legislative body, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, passed the Film Industry Promotion Law (Film Law). The Film Law takes effect on March 1, 2017. The Film Law is the first comprehensive “law” in China targeting the film industry specifically and is more than 13 years in the making. A “law” in China is a specific term for legislation passed at the national level. Similar to a broad statutory regime in other countries, follow-on regulations are typically promulgated

Posted on November 23rd, 2016 By Nils Rauer and Eva Vonau Posted in Copyright, Entertainment & Content

CJEU: Exceptions of InfoSoc do not cover out-of-commerce works

Is it permitted to reproduce out-of-commerce works and make them publicly accessible under European copyright exceptions? So far, there is no explicit regulation at European level dealing with out-of-commerce works. However, a few member states, including Germany, have already complemented their copyright by way of introduction of new provisions governing the use that one can make of out-of-stock works. In simple terms, national legislators mainly understand such works as works not being commercially available anymore. The respective provision in French law has recently been subject to the European Court of

Posted on November 15th, 2016 By Nils Rauer and Eva Vonau Posted in Copyright, Entertainment & Content

CJEU: Landmark decision on digital lending of e-books

On 10 November 2016, the European Court of Justice (CJEU) rendered a landmark decision on the lending of e-books. Public libraries may rely on statutory copyright exceptions when lending out e-books and are not required to obtain a contractual license explicitly covering such e-lending right. With its decision, the CJEU applies the same legal principles to e-books that already govern the lending of physical books. However, the equal treatment of both only takes place where the lending schemes are comparable, meaning that multiple access to the same digital publication at

Posted on November 3rd, 2016 By Nils Rauer and Eva Vonau Posted in Copyright, Entertainment & Content

EU: Advocate General comments on radio and TV in hotel rooms

Guests entering hotel rooms expect to be able to turn on the TV or listen to the radio. Accordingly, TVs and radios feature in almost any hotel room around the world. However, this commodity has been the trigger for numerous legal disputes in recent years. As always, the quarrel is about money. In this post we look at proceedings which question whether a hotel in Austria with TV and radio in its rooms is liable to pay remuneration to the competent collecting society or not. Ultimately, this depends on the

Posted on March 16th, 2016 By Alexander Maltas, Tom Peters and Noah Cherry Posted in Entertainment & Content, Internet, Policy & Regulation

India Decision on Zero Rating Highlights Uncertainty Across Borders Regarding Zero-rating Mobile Data Services

A recent decision by India’s telecom regulator to prohibit differential charges for Internet content – which effectively blocked Facebook from offering its Free Basics service in the country – highlights how regulators around the globe continue to work through whether and how “zero-rating” data services may be permissible under their country’s net neutrality framework. Zero-rating services allow consumers to access certain content without being charged for that data. For example, Facebook’s Free Basics program offers users no-fee access to a text-only mobile version of the Facebook social network, as well

Posted on December 14th, 2015 By Hogan Lovells Tech and Telecoms Posted in Copyright, Entertainment & Content

Law in the Global Marketplace: Study up post-symposium with our CLE materials

On 4th November, together with Santa Clara University’s High Tech Law Institute and the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology, we hosted our second Law in the Global Marketplace symposium on Intellectual Property and related issues. Topics covered thought-provoking issues concerning global aspects of intellectual property law, including the impact of patent reform in the EU and U.S. on international enforcement strategies, developments in Chinese IP law, comparative analyses of patent office procedures and patent quality, IP trends for emerging technologies, FRAND commitments for standards-essential patents, developments in digital copyright, and

Posted on November 6th, 2015 By Hogan Lovells Posted in Copyright, Entertainment & Content

Copyright is what we do – globally: So we’ve mapped it for you!

In today’s world, copyright works and related rights form the cornerstone for numerous services and products. Of course, the entire media and broadcasting sector is reliant on copyright protection, as are the software, music and publishing industries. But, copyright protected content is at stake in many more industries such as IT, luxury goods, education and research. Taking into account that non-literary texts may also enjoy copyright protection, it is not surprising that we also advise clients in banking and finance; and professional services (amongst others). The copyright world is truly dynamic. Opportunities

Posted on October 6th, 2015 By Hogan Lovells Tech and Telecoms Posted in Copyright, Entertainment & Content

US – Put your finger on the IP pulse: Law in The Global Marketplace Symposium

Emerging technologies. Rapidly evolving markets. Changing regulatory frameworks. Businesses around the globe are affected by these influences and intellectual property (IP) plays a central role. On 4th November, Hogan Lovells, Santa Clara University’s High Tech Law Institute, and the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology are bringing together the IP industry’s thought leaders to discuss these issues and start a conversation around how to turn them into IP opportunities. As part of the event, a live video conference will connect Silicon Valley and London. This panel, featuring speakers in both

Posted on July 28th, 2015 By Marco Berliri and Jacopo Ettorre Posted in Entertainment & Content, Internet

The Court of Rome rules on Wikimedia Foundation’s role as a hosting provider and its lack of liability for Wikipedia’s content

On July 10, 2015 the Court of Rome issued a very important decision in favor of Wikimedia Foundation (the organization managing the online encyclopedia Wikipedia), represented by Hogan Lovells, in relation to the Foundation’s lack of liability for the content created by its users. The Court has confirmed the Foundation’s role as hosting provider as well as its neutral role in relation to the hosted content, recognizing the procedure provided by Wikimedia to all Wikipedia’s contributors (the so called Wiki model) as the correct method to follow for amending Wikipedia

Posted on March 31st, 2015 By Nils Rauer and Alastair Shaw Posted in Copyright, Entertainment & Content

EU – CJEU decides prohibition of access to live streams can be lawful

On 26 March 2015, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) rendered a most interesting and instructive verdict on the matter of live streaming of sports events on the Internet (C More Entertainment vs. Sandberg, Case Ref.: C‑279/13). The 9th Chamber ruled that Member States may grant statutory broadcasting rights that go beyond the definition of the “making available to the public” as set out in Article 3 (2) of the InfoSoc Directive (2001/29) provided that such an extension does not undermine the protection of copyright. This ruling

Posted on December 18th, 2014 By Natalia Gulyaeva, Maria Sedykh and Uliana Kolyvanova Posted in Copyright, Entertainment & Content, Internet, Policy & Regulation

Russian President Signs a Law that Expands the Current Scope of the Anti-piracy Law to all Types of Content

On 24 November 2014, the Russian President signed into law a bill introducing amendments to the so-called Anti-piracy Law[1] and expanding its scope to all types of copyright-protected content available on the Internet, except for photographs (the “Law“)[2]. The Law will take effect on 1 May 2015. Under the Law the following procedure will become available for copyright and related rights holders wishing to restrict access to audio-visual works which have been placed on the Internet illegally: – the right holder may seek before the Moscow City Court a preliminary injunction

Posted on December 16th, 2014 By Camille Pecnard and Pauline Faron Posted in Copyright, e-commerce, Entertainment & Content, Internet, Policy & Regulation

Paris Court of Appeal orders video-sharing website Dailymotion to pay substantial damages for failure to promptly remove infringing content

In a recent decision of the Paris Court of Appeal dated 2 December 2014, the French video-sharing website Dailymotion was held liable to pay more than 1,2 million Euros in damages to the French TV channel TF1 and other stakeholders on the grounds that Dailymotion did not promptly remove around 60 videos unlawfully made available online in breach of TF1’s rights. In June and July 2007, the French TV channels TF1 and LCI noticed that some videos they produced were made available on Dailymotion in breach of their rights. They consequently

Posted on November 24th, 2014 By Natalia Gulyaeva, Maria Sedykh and Alexandra Bakhtiozina Posted in Copyright, Entertainment & Content, Internet, Policy & Regulation

Russia: New anti-piracy fee for Internet content is proposed

The First Vice Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov has reportedly[1] ordered the Russian Ministries of Culture, Communications, Economic Development, Finance, and Justice to assess a proposal from the Russian Union of Right Holders (“RUR“), to fight piracy by introducing a fixed royalty fee to be paid to rights holders in exchange for unlimited use of content on Internet. The Ministries would be required to develop relevant legislative amendments by 5 December 2014. Under Russian law copyright and related rights clearance may be exercised by way of conclusion of agreements with right holders

Posted on November 19th, 2014 By Penny Thornton Posted in Copyright, Entertainment & Content, Internet, Policy & Regulation

UK High Court orders first website blocking injunction to combat trade mark infringement

On 17 October 2014, in the case of Cartier International AG and Others v BskyB and Others, Arnold J ordered the five major UK ISPs to block a number of websites that were advertising and selling counterfeit goods and on 17 November 2014 he handed down his judgment on the form of the Order. The case is interesting because, according to Arnold J, with one possible exception, it is the first occasion on which an application for a website-blocking order has been made in Europe in order to combat trade mark infringement.