The Copykat: What Tibbie Has To Enjoin Us This Monday

This weblog post service is the starting fourth dimension written past times our new intern, Tibbie McIntyre.

“And if you lot wound me – Well, that’s okay baby, alone words bleed”

Ed Sheeran won’t locomote quoting his international hitting ‘Photograph’ anytime before long inwards relation to his electrical current lawsuit inwards forepart of a California federal court.

Ed Sheeran et al are currently attempting to remove maintain the ‘Photograph’ representative - worth $20m - dismissed on administrative grounds. Sheeren’s hit, ‘Photograph’ is alleged to infringe ‘Amazing’, recorded in addition to released past times Matt Cardle, winner of the 2010 flavor of The X Factor.

As a lawyer, solving your client’s issues chop-chop in addition to cost-effectively is the best means to snuff it on them happy. That’s why the initial litigation strategy employed past times well-nigh defending lawyers is to ready on the dry ground of the complainant’s claims. Where a accused is said to locomote infringing a patent, her lawyers volition in all likelihood show to debate that in that location was never whatever patent inwards the starting fourth dimension place. In copyright cases – the same holds truthful – amongst i side in all likelihood arguing that copyright never subsisted inwards the function inwards question.

In this detail case, Sheeran’s lawyers remove maintain plead to remove maintain the representative dismissed, asserting – every bit filed on seven Oct – that the lawsuit consists of “vague, disorganized, redundant, argumentative in addition to scandalous allegations”, which “defy the well-nigh key pleading requirement of providing short, concise in addition to apparently statements”. The instant prong of ready on taken past times Sheeran’s lawyers is to accept number amongst “unduly vague allegations that “certain Defendants” performed for certain unspecific acts without whatever effort to distinguish betwixt the 11 unlike Defendants”.

With the ‘Blurred Lines’ decision having been roundly criticized since its unloosen because no tune or harmony features were like inwards either of the ii songs, attempting to remove maintain the representative dismissed at this early on phase is a prudent movement from Sheeran’s lawyers. The master copy electrical load inwards Sheeran’s representative states that the alleged copying was “on a breathtaking scale” in addition to was inwards fact “in many instances, verbatim, note-for-note copying.” We volition sentinel this representative amongst interest.

The doctrine of exhaustion of distribution rights inwards figurer software does non apply to back-up copies (copies held on a non-original medium).

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled on Oct 12 that the doctrine of exhaustion of distribution rights inwards figurer software does non apply to back-up copies.

Ranks et Vasiļevičs is a representative concerning ii Latvian nationals who are alleged to remove maintain sold copyright-protected Microsoft software on an online marketplace betwixt 29 Dec 2001 in addition to 22 Dec 2004 (see too here).

The questions seat earlier the courtroom were “whether Article 4(a) in addition to (c), in addition to Article 5(1) in addition to (2), of Directive 91/250 must locomote interpreted every bit important that the acquirer of a used re-create of a figurer program, stored on a non-original cloth medium, may, nether the dominion of exhaustion of the rightholder’s distribution right, resell that re-create where (i) the master copy cloth medium of that program, acquired past times the initial acquirer, has been damaged in addition to (ii) that initial acquirer has erased his re-create or ceased to role it.”

Essentially, the court’s ruling states that:

• An initial acquirer of software nether an unlimited user licence is entitled to resell the software to a novel acquirer nether the doctrine of exhaustion of distribution right. Importantly, however, the software beingness resold must locomote stored on the master copy cloth medium.
• In contrast, copies of software stored on a non-original cloth medium (i.e. backup DVDs/CDs/floppy disks) cannot locomote resold without the authorization of the rightholder, even where the master copy cloth medium has damaged/destroyed/lost.

The CJEU emphasizes that the rightholder has an exclusive reproduction correct nether Art 4(1) of Directive 91/250. Exceptions to this correct are constitute inwards Art v of the Directive, so the initial acquirer of software nether an unlimited user licence – inwards for certain circumstances – is entitled reproduce the software. The crux of this representative is that the CJEU states that exceptions to exclusive rights must locomote interpreted strictly, according to settled representative police of the Court (Painer, C‑145/10, paragraph 109).

Electronic Frontier Foundation calls on meshing users to petition to reform the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s pro-DRM provisions

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is preparing comments inwards answer to the USA Copyright Office’s here past times Ben, nether Section 1201 of the DMCA, people attempting to create a broken object dependent land to unopen to sort of protection stair out tin move locomote sued for violating copyright law. The effect beingness that manufacturers tin move concur consumers to ransom – dictating who tin move create consumer products in addition to how much consumers involve to coughing upward for the privilege.   

Corynne McSherry, EFF’s legal director, writes:

"In practice, the DMCA anti-circumvention provisions haven’t had much affect on unauthorized sharing of copyrighted content. Instead, they’ve hampered lawful creativity, innovation, competition, security, in addition to privacy. … People are realizing how of import it is to locomote able to intermission those locks, for all kinds of legitimate reasons. If you lot can’t tinker amongst it, repair it, or peek nether the hood, so you lot don’t actually ain it—someone else does, in addition to their interests volition accept precedence over yours.”

EFF is drafting comments that it hopes volition resultant inwards a potent in addition to practical ready of recommendations. You may read to a greater extent than the number or sign the petition here, in addition to read to a greater extent than on how to contribute your ain thoughts/ideas to the Copyright Office here.