Saturday, November 30, 2013

Google Books: Eight Years Later...

Publishersweekly, here

Bundeskartellamt erwirkt Änderung des Händler-Rabattsystems bei GARDENA

Bundeskartellamt.de, hier

Competition Policy for Modern Banks

L. Ratnovski, here.

Film Producers and Distributors Obtain Site Block from Paris Court

The1709blog.blogspot.co.uk, here

Israeli Publishers and Hebrew University Reach Historic Agreement on Fair Use

ArielKatz.org, here

Rivals can create copycat software through testing developers' software and interpreting their user manuals, rules UK court

Out-law.com, here

Bundesgerichtshof zur Nutzung urheberrechtlich geschützter Werke auf elektronischen Lernplattformen von Universitäten

Urteil vom 28. November 2013 - I ZR 76/12 - Meilensteine der Psychologie, Pressemitteilung hier

Regulatory context of Machine to Machine (M2M)

M. Delecluse, Presentation here

Google’s Growing Patent Stockpile

MIT Technology Review, here

Your medical data in their hands - concerns mount over new NHS IT project

Opendemocracy.net, here

Pour le respect des droits fondamentaux des lecteurs dans un environnement numérique

Association des Bibliothécaires de France, ici

Monday, November 25, 2013

European citizens and Intellectual Property: perception, awareness and behaviour

OHIM, here

The European Commission and Open Access

J.-F. Dechamp, Presentation here, video here

Government of Canada Quietly Changes Its Approach to Crown Copyright

MichaelGeist.ca, here

Competition in Road Fuel

OECD Roundtable, here

Creative Commons to European Commission: No restrictions on PSI re-use

CreativeCommons.org, here

Proposition de loi concernant les stratégies abusives de réappropriation du domaine publique

Actualitte.com, ici

Lobbyarbeit im Datenschutz: Ex-Kommissar auf schräger Mission

Sueddeutsche.de, hier

The Changing Textbook Industry

J. Band, here

A US Court Issues Second Ruling Determining RAND Rate for Standard Essential Patent (Innovatio)

M. Carrier, here

Tracas en perspective pour Google Maps ?

Zdnet.fr, ici

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Sustainability of Open Source software communities beyond a fork: How and why has the LibreOffice project evolved?

J. Gamalielsson, B. Lundell, here.

Brussels to launch antitrust probe into sales of pay-TV rights


Financial Times, here.

"Joaquín Almunia, the EU competition commissioner, last year sanctioned a “fact finding” effort in light of the (Murphy) ruling to see whether barriers to cross-border access merited antitrust scrutiny and possible enforcement action.

Some investigators are now poised to step up their inquiries into whether “absolute territorial protection clauses” break competition law. These stop licensees from selling to other countries or accepting unsolicited demands from overseas customers to pay to access the content.

......

Maurits Dolmans, a partner at Cleary Gottlieb, said the 2011 Premier League case concerned satellite sports broadcasting and the court left open whether it could be applied at all to other distribution channels and other forms of content.

“The Commission will have to take into account different economic factors,” he said. “Forcing EU-wide licensing may be attractive for consumers in richer countries, who may pay less, but not necessarily for consumers in poorer countries, who might be forced to pay more.”

Friday, November 22, 2013

Creative Economy Report 2013

UNESCO, here.

Intellectual Property chapter of TPP poses threat to Open Access

Mysciencework.com, here.

Le policy universitarie in materia di Accesso Aperto alla scienza: l’esperienza dell’Università di Trieste

Seminario, 27 novembre 2013, Università di Trento, qui.

Programma
14.30
Saluti della Rettrice - prof.ssa Daria de Pretis

14.40
Introduzione – prof. Roberto Caso, delegato della Rettrice per l’Open Access e le politiche contro il plagio

15.00
La policy dell’Università di Trieste in materia di accesso aperto – prof. Fabio Benedetti, Presidente della Commissione di Ateneo per l’accesso aperto dell’Università di Trieste

15.30 - 16.00
Dibattito

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Delivering the Benefits? Efficiencies and Airline Mergers (US Airways-American)

AAI White Paper (D. Moss), here

India's PM (also) on competition policy

Inaugural address at the 3rd BRICS International Competition Conference, here

A Brazilian State Takes Open Data To Another Level

Techpresident.com, here

After a year of threats, first suit is filed over hated “scanner patents”

ArsTechnica.com, here

Die Open-Data-Bewegung - Das Verhältnis von Praktiken, Zielen und Selbstbild der Open Knowledge Foundation Deutschland

S. Baak, hier.

Defying the logic, forgetting the facts: the new European proposal for data protection in the police sector

J. Cannataci, here

Living with Uncertainty in IP Law

JIPLP Editorial, here.

HarperCollins, Curriculet Test New School E-book Model

PublishersWeekly.com, here

That Google Books decision: good, but only second best?

The IPKat, here

Software patent reform just died in the House, thanks to IBM and Microsoft

Washingtonpost.com, here

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Hidden efficiencies: On the relevance of business justifications in abuse of dominance cases

H. Friederiszick, L. Gratz, here

Schienenkartell: ThyssenKrupp zahlt Millionenentschädigung an Deutsche Bahn

Spiegel.de, hier. Sueddeutsche.de, hier

Convention 108 with Additional Protocol and Modernisation proposals

CAHDATA, Council of Europe, here

Big data can improve health outcomes, say experts

Out-Law.com, here

Patent Reform 2013: Measured Reform Proposals from the Senate

Patentlyo.com, here

How Self-Publishing Led Amazon to German Ebook Dominance

PublishingPerspectives.com, here

Base de données : caractère non substantiel des investissements de constitution

Legalis.net, ici.

Comments Received on Copyright Green Paper

Ntia.doc.gov, here

Marking Up the TPP

Project-disco.org, here.

Numérisation : L'Etat ne suppléera pas "les partenaires privés réticents"

Actualitte.com, ici

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

The Rise of Innovative Business Models: Content Delivery Methods in the Digital Age

Hearing, Committee on the Judiciary, here.

The Internet of Things: Privacy and Security in a Connected World

E. Ramirez, here. FTC workshop's page here

Google's vertical search proposals: what will be EC antitrust chief's verdict?

TheGuardian.com, here

These charts show how the U.S. could lose its edge in scientific research

Washingtonpost.com, here

Rémunération proportionnelle du partage: la Hadopi s'associe à des universitaires

Numerama.com, ici

Open Access to science and data = cash and economic bonanza

N. Kroes, here

New group fights digital theft with personal touch

Usatoday.com, here.

EPIC Urges FCC to Investigate AT&T’s Practice of Selling Consumer Phone Records

Epic.org, here

Rights Protection Mechanisms for New gTLDs

ICANN Generic Domains Division, here.

Monday, November 18, 2013

Revisiting antitrust institutions: The case for guidelines to recalibrate the Federal Trade Commission’s section 5 unfair methods of competition authority

J. Wright, here

Frank La Rue (Onu): “Incostituzionale una riforma Agcom su diritto d’autore online”

Lastampa.it, qui

Neelie Kroes calls for modernising copyright for the digital age

Futureofcopyright.com, here

Kick the data secrecy habit and everyone wins

Newscientist.com, here

Comments Received To South Africa’s Process For New IP Policy

IP-watch.org, here

Study on Intellectual Property and Brain Drain - A Mapping Exercise

WIPO Secreteriat, peer-reviewed by F. Lissoni, here

Information Resellers - Consumer Privacy Framework Needs to Reflect Changes in Technology and the Marketplace

US Government Accountability Office, here

Law Professors Call for Public Process for Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) Intellectual Property Chapter

Infojustice.org, here

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Google Books Litigation Update

A. Ahsir, here.

Italy: Open Data Action Plan

Department for Public Administration in cooperation with the Agency for Digital Italy (AgID), here.

Apple maps: how Google lost when everyone thought it had won

Theguardian.com, here

Competition in the online world

J. Almunia, here

Content Creation, Access to Information, Open Internet

Workshop, Internet Governance Forum, Transcript here

Copyright research and innovation policy

European Parliament, Brussels, 12 November 2013, Programme here, streaming here

The Art of Persuasion: Competition Advocacy at the Intersection of Antitrust and Intellectual Property

R. Hesse, here

La legge italiana sull’accesso aperto agli articoli scientifici: l’inizio di un percorso normativo

R. Caso, P. Galimberti, here

A few words about copyright

G. Brandis, here

Friday, November 08, 2013

Is Auto Parts Evolving into a Supercartel?

J. Connor, here

YouTube Comments Changes Spark Petition For Privacy

Inquisitr.com, here.

The new Competition and Markets Authority: how will it promote competition?

D. Currie, here.

Ads Could Soon Know If You’re an Introvert (on Twitter)

MIT Technology Review, here.

US loses Unesco voting rights after stopping funds over Palestine decision

TheGuardian.com, here

Felines jumping from OHIM to General Court: puma and designs

IPKat, here

Ideology Matters in the Antitrust Debate

M. Lao, here

The Landscape of Proposed Patent Law Amendments – A Comparative Look

J. Contreras, here

The quest for behavioural Antitrust. Beyond the label battle, towards a cognitive approach

L. Arnaudo, Agcm Collana "Temi e problemi", qui

Credit Cards in Canada: What Role for Competition Law?

Kluwer Competition Law Blog, here

U.S. spying harms cloud computing, Internet freedom: Wikipedia founder

Reuters.com, here.

"It's not always fun to live in an authors' rights country"

B. Hugenholtz, Flexing Authors’ Rights, Peter Jaszi Distinguished Lecture on Intellectual Property, Video here (from 1:14:16).
"It's not always fun to live in an authors' rights country" at 1:23:38.

Highly recommended, in the following some notes I took:

Who could be against "fair" use in Europe and elsewhere?

A number of historic reasons:
- civil law tradition: the law should be made by the people, the judge should be no more than "la bouche de la loi" (mouthpiece of the law)
- authors' rights: different rationale, constitutions at national level hardly ever mention intellectual property: there to protect authors as a matter of natural justice; exceptions narrowly interpreted. As part of that, the moral rights' tradition.

Broader concerns:
- affecting legal certainty
- opening the floodgates to piracy
- fear of US legal imperialism ("fair US to us")

Legal arguments:
- fair use in conflict with the Berne Convention, with TRIPS

But:

- civil law is already dominated by general principles, and unwritten law also a source of law
- generally, moral rights do not impede the introduction of more flexible norms
- public interest and balancing of rights already part of the discussion
- fair use is not wild, it is fairly predictable, despite being open
2010 "Vorschaubilder" case involving thumbnails: German Court looking for ways to justify them, and cooked up a theory of "implied consent." Reasonable solution, but we need more legal certainty.
- three-step test as a safety net

Legal transplants rarely work, but in Europe we need more flexibility, and the European and international legal frameworks do tolerate it (problems exist, but are not insurmountable).

Evidence pointing in the direction of flexibility:

- Recital 2, InfoSoc Directive: "The European Council, meeting at Corfu on 24 and 25 June 1994, stressed the need to create a general and flexible legal framework at Community level in order to foster the development of the information society in Europe."

Limitations and exceptions (LE) rather loosely circumscribed, rather like prototypes (eg., art. 5(3)(d) InfoSoc Directive: "quotations for purposes such as criticism or review"; (i) incidental inclusion of a work or other subject-matter in other material; (k) use for the purpose of caricature, parody or pastiche; not even the French know what pastiche means...perhaps user generated content?), with ample room for maneuver (Sweden, very broad quotation exception: quote to the extent necessary for the purpose, in accordance with proper uses).

Three-step test not that much of a problem:
- "certain special cases": flexible norms can be reasonably predictable, eg fair use is not all encompassing
- "prejudice the legitimate interests of the rightholder": flexible norms do not necessary prejudice authors' and rightholders' rights
- nobody has ever complained to the WTO about the US fair use rule.
- the Berne three-step conceived against the background of all LE existing at that time, fair use included (US not part of Berne at that time, but future adherence was already part of the picture).

Discussions on flexibilities in the EU

Luckily, the idea of introducing more flexibility is gaining momentum at the EU political level, inspired by the UK and Irish examples among others. Also the Netherlands is forcefully making that point in Europe.

Irish Copyright Review Report suggesting the introduction of some sort of fair use, complementing exiting LE.

Kind of flexibilities that work: two approaches
- Extend existing LE to create more room for maneuver
- the South Korean/Irish approach: flexibility alongside circumscribed LE (civil law) - rule of complementary flexibility; similarly, the Wittem project - European Copyright Code advocating it, at article 5.5:
"Further limitations
Any other use that is comparable to the uses enumerated in art. 5.1 to 5.4(1) is permitted provided that the corresponding requirements of the relevant limitation are met and the use does not conflict with the normal exploitation of the work and does not unreasonably prejudice the legitimate interests of the author or rightholder, taking account of the legitimate interests of third parties."

Who cares about flexibilities in copyright? Everybody is infringing copyright anyway on a daily basis (only speaking for the Netherlands)

Law abiding citizens, and students.
Institutional users (such as libraries) and innovators: chilling effects.
Authors themselves.
Everybody  believing in copyright, and Prof. Hugenholtz certainly does: increasing gap between social norms of the people "in Internet" and the law of copyright; social legitimacy of copyright currently under serious threat.

German court stays Google-Apple FRAND rate-setting case, invites EU Commission to participate

Fosspatents.com, here

Urheberrecht: Große Koalition will Haftung von Sharehostern verschärfen

Heise.de, hier.

Strategic Underinvestment as an Abuse of Dominance under EU Competition Rules

P. Merlino, G. Faella, here

Thursday, November 07, 2013

Microsoft Is Making An Astonishing $2 Billion Per Year From Android Patent Royalties

BusinessInsider.com, here..

Big Data for Europe

N. Kroes,here.
What is Big Data? Memo, here

The Guardian on Google' s Leaked Settlement Proposals

Here.
Commitments from Bits.blogs.nytimes.com, here.
Questionnaire from .consumerwatchdog.org, here

"Strategic Patent Acquisitions" in Review

The Antitrust Source, here.

Rockstar vs. Google: Software patents as a license for privateering

FSFE.org, here

User Generated Content under Canadian Copyright Law Symposium Videos

Osgoode Hall Law School, here

Inspiring Creativity - Promoting Culture and Creative Industries across Europe

European Territorial Cooperation, here

Antitrust damages in EU law and policy

J. Almunia, here

Five Arguments Laid to Rest after Actavis

M. Carrier, here

Des "services culturels numériques" sous le joug du CSA ? Refus de l'ASIC

Numerama.com, ici

Startups Pitching A “Netflix For E-Books” May Have A Tough Sell

TechCrunch.com, here

Department of Commerce Seeks Input on Digital First Sale

Thedigitalshift.com here.
Supplementary info published on the Federal Register, here (p. 2 ff.)

Behavioural Economics in Competition and Consumer Policy

Centre for Competition Policy, University of East Anglia, here. Presentations from the book's launch here.

Tuesday, November 05, 2013

Old Habits Die Hard?:UsedSoft v Oracle

A. Nicholson, here

IBM claims Twitter is in violation of three patents they own

TechSpot.com, here

Commissioner Michel Barnier welcomes the trilogue agreement on collective rights management

European Commission, Memo here

Wettbewerbshüter fordern neue Bahngesetze

Welt.de, hier

Unclear, torturous path for EU ratification of Marrakesh Treaty

Tacd-ip.org, here.

"Maria Martín Prat suggested that new EU copyright legislation proposed sometime in 2014 could incorporate the Marrakesh Treaty and that this might be needed before ratification to harmonize EU member state laws on exceptions to copyright. This proposal that would mean a number years of delay in the ratification of the treaty was criticized by a number of MEPs present. Martin Prat gave as an example of why a new law would be needed the presence of “dyslexic persons” in the Treaty which is not covered by EU copyright exceptions legislation."

Directive 2001/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 May 2001 on the harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the information society
Art.5(3)
(b) uses, for the benefit of people with a disability, which are directly related to the disability and of a non-commercial nature, to the extent required by the specific disability;

Dyslexia not included?!?

Ouverture des données publiques. Les exceptions au principe de gratuité sont elles toutes légitimes ?

Rapport ("Trojette") au Ministre, ici

Permettre les usages publics des images

A. Gunthert, ici

Informational Hearing on Patent Assertion Entities

B. Love, Testimony, California Assembly Select Committee on High Technology, here

Monday, November 04, 2013

Seminar: Designing Global Competition Policy Between Co-operation and Convergence

Alessandra Tonazzi, Italian Competition Authority
Mor Bakhoum, Max Planck Institute, Munich

November 15, 2013 - 10.30 am

Trento University
Department of Economics and Management
Room 3C

Via Inama, 5—Trento

EU aims to complete Gazprom antitrust probe by spring

Reuters.com, here

The Value of Data: Consequences for Insight, Innovation & Efficiency in the U.S. Economy

J. Deighton, P. Johnson, here

My Latest Amicus Brief: Viacom v. YouTube (Again)

IPDuck, here

Caught in the Stat: LSE Receives Criticism for its Report on Copyright in the Music Industry

Iposgoode.ca, here

Supreme Court of Canada Allows Indirect Purchaser Claims

Kluwercompetitionlawblog.com, here

U.S. Court Invalidates Patent on Down Syndrome Test

News.sciencemag.org, here

Seizing the data opportunity - A strategy for UK data capability

Gov.uk, here.

P. 43: "Action: Following the technical review of the published draft legislation, the government will bring into force secondary legislation to enable text and data mining for non-commercial purposes in 2014."

One small step for EU Parliament could prove one giant leap for data protection

UK Information Commissioner's Office, here

Baidu shuts down digital marketplace due to copyright concerns

Managingip.com, here

Swiss telco’s cloud aims to draw customers who are fearful of spying

Arstechnica.com, here

Kenya: Attorney-General Githu Muigai declares war on copyright law violators

Nation.co.ke, here

Sprit­preis-Onlineportale: Stich­probe der Stiftung Warentest

Test.de, hier

Rechtliche Probleme beim Einsatz von Plagiatssoftware unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der universitären Ausbildung

F. Schulz, hier

Music start-up set to rock the world

Smh.com.au, here

Friday, November 01, 2013

Study on the remuneration of authors and performers for the use of their works and the fixations of their performances

Call for tender, European Commission, here.

"The objective of the study is to provide an assessment of different national approaches and mechanisms to ensure remuneration for authors and performers for the exploitation of their works and performances and to determine whether, and to what extent, the differences that exist among the Member States affect levels of remuneration and the functioning of the internal market."

Police IP Crime Unit arrests third man suspected of running pirate site

Musicweek.com, here 

Google and Samsung sued for patent infringement by major tech consortium

TheVerge.com, here

Supreme Court of Canada Gives Green Light for Indirect Purchaser Price Fixing Class Actions

Casselbrock.com, here

Does EU Competition Policy sufficiently promote companies investment & innovation ?

N. Petit, Presentation here

First Degree Price Discrimination Using Big Data

B. Reed Shiller, here

Antigua Preparing to Move Forward with WTO Authorized Rejection of US Copyrights

Patentlyo.com, here