Landmark software copyright case in the UK

I have finally finished reading SAS Institute Inc v World Programming Ltd (the IPKat beat me to it). This is an important software copyright case for many reasons. After a decade of mostly software patent cases in English courts, it is refreshing to see a complex software case where it truly belongs. I believe this might [...]

GikII 2010 Programme

And here it is, this year’s GikII programme in its full glory:

Final programme (uncertainty principle permitting)
Sunday 27 June

18.00-onwards. Social event (because geeks have social lives too)
UK premiere of Kembrew Mcleod’s “Copyright Criminals”
Ethanol and a chance to engage in social interaction with other members of the Homo Sapiens Sapiens species available at [...]

Usenet filesharing defeated in court

The Hight Court in England has just delivered a ruling in the case of 20th Century Fox & Anor v Newzbin Ltd. Newzbin is a usenet binary file-sharing service that allows users to search and share material using the bulletin-board-like protocol. Wikipedia points out that “Usenet is distributed among a large, constantly changing conglomeration of [...]

Linking to P2P content declared legal in Spain

[Note: I know the title is not legally accurate, I hope my fellow lawyers will cut me some slack for reporting purposes ]

(Via El Mundo) A judge in Barcelona has just delivered an astounding sentence with regards to sites that link to P2P content. The case was brought by SGAE (Sociedad General de Autores y [...]

ISP liability to get ECJ hearing

Just on the coattails of Roadshow Films v iiNet, we are about to get another landmark ruling on ISP liability. If there was any doubt that we are witnessing a legal struggle between intermediaries and content owners, we can lay those doubts to rest.

Sabam v Tiscali has been a long-running case in Belgian courts with regards [...]

Landmark ISP liability case decided in Australia

What did you say Skippy? ISPs are not liable for the infringement committed by their customers?

As was mentioned last week, we have been expecting an important ruling with regards to internet service provider (ISP) liability from Australia.  Behold Roadshow Films Pty Ltd v iiNet Limited [2010] FCA 24.  This is a case of tremendous importance [...]

How did OiNK get away?

"I'm not criminally liable for secondary infringement, officer!"

It was supposed to be the British equivalent of high-profile cases such as PirateBay and the Jamie Thomas trial.  It was supposed to act as a clear deterrent to a new generation of file-sharers against widespread copyright infringement.  Instead, Alan Ellis, the founder of torrent tracking site OiNK [...]

Baillie Estates v Du Pont: Contracting through email

(Via Jordan Hatcher) What are the rules with regards to contract formation through email? When exactly is a contract concluded if the negotiators have not disclosed the terms and conditions clearly? The case of Baillie Estates Ltd v Du Pont (UK) Ltd helps to elucidate some of these questions.

The case deals with email contractual negotiations that [...]

French constitutional court strikes down three-strikes

The adoption of the French version of three-strikes legislation has been filled with more plot twists than a Brazilian soap opera. First it got rejected by Parliament, then it passed, and now the French constitutional court has rejected it on the grounds that access to the Internet is a human right, and cannot be taken away [...]

UK IPO approves patent for software as such

The UK Intellectual Property Office has ruled in favour of an application for an invention implemented in software, and therefore complies with section 1(2) of the 1977 Patent Act. The controversy involves patent application GB2407893A by Nokia which protects “a method of rapid software application development for a wireless mobile device”.  The heart of the claim [...]