European Collecting Societies Under Fire From Cable Operators 09/02/2007 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch AMSTERDAM – The current scheme for clearing broadcast retransmission rights harms cable operators and should be revamped, speakers said at this week’s Cable Europe 07 conference in Amsterdam. An alternative to collective rights management organisations (CRMs) – central licensing or all-rights-included packages – could give the cable industry […]
Industry, Intergovernmental Organizations Launch Global Anti-Piracy Blitz 31/01/2007 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By William New Multinational companies have long complained about cheap, dangerous knock-offs of their products undermining their profits and reputation, but in a two-day annual high-level gathering along with key intergovernmental organisations this week, they have taken the anti-piracy and counterfeiting campaign to new heights. Industry and the organisations have seized upon ties to organised […]
Fair Use, Broadcast Protections Global Copyright Priorities This Year 25/01/2007 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch While antipiracy initiatives and updated broadcasting protections remain dominant themes for government and industry this year, 2007 also could usher in an expansion of user rights as well, according to sources. In the United States and perhaps worldwide, the focus appears to be on fair use or fair dealing, said DowLohnes intellectual property attorney James Burger. Outside the US, it is taking the form of legislation clarifying or expanding private use of copyrighted material, he said, while internally, “the personal use issue is more likely to find its challenge in the judicial system.”
Midem: Window Of Opportunity Closing For Digital Rights Management 25/01/2007 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch CANNES – The entertainment industry may have made too many mistakes for digital rights management to become the main model of remuneration in digital sales business models, said experts at the music fair Midem this week in Cannes and its “policy sister” MidemNet Forum last weekend. Paul Brindley, […]
Questions Loom For WIPO Broadcasting Negotiation 23/01/2007 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By William New With one meeting left before a decision at the World Intellectual Property Organization to proceed with formal negotiations on a treaty boosting the rights of broadcasters and cablecasters, the prospects are unclear, according to officials. The WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights met from 17 to 19 January but struggled […]
WIPO Negotiators Try To Bear Down On Broadcasting Treaty 18/01/2007 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By William New World Intellectual Property Organization officials negotiating this week on how to improve broadcasters’ and cablecasters’ ability to protect their signals have attempted to move into a deeper debate using an informal chair’s text of a draft treaty. More discussion among negotiators arose on 18 January after a quiet first day, but the […]
WIPO Committee Seeks Footing For Broadcasting Treaty Talks 17/01/2007 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By William New Just months before full-fledged negotiations are expected to begin on a treaty to boost broadcasters’ and cablecasters’ rights, World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) negotiators meeting this week to iron out differences struggled to find their footing for a way forward. “It was a slow start,” said Jukka Liedes of Finland, chairman of […]
Signal-Based Or Nothing, Some Say At US Broadcasting Treaty Roundtable 04/01/2007 by John T. Aquino for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By John T. Aquino for Intellectual Property Watch WASHINGTON, DC – At the 3 January roundtable discussion concerning the work at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) on a broadcasters’ rights treaty, many of the more than 50 participants were vocal in their opposition, with some in support. Most said the proposed treaty was unnecessary […]
Germany Still Seeking Balance In Copyright Policy 04/12/2006 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch A series of five recent hearings in the Justice Committee of the German Parliament have revealed deep rifts over the second part of Germany’s copyright law reform. This so-called “second basket” deals with adaptations of copyright law to the digital age after a “first basket” from 2003 aimed […]
Governments Eye DRM Interoperability Rules As Consumers Vent Over Access 04/12/2006 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch LONDON – Increasing consumer demand for accessing online content anytime, anywhere is politicizing copyright, speakers said last week at the Digital Hollywood Europe conference here. Frustration over restrictive and incompatible digital rights management (DRM) systems and consumer electronics devices has risen to the point where governments are beginning […]