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Category: Digital

Russian internet service providers want authority to cut the internet traffic to certain web-sites

Russian internet service providers (ISP) propose to provide them with authority to decide who deserves better bandwidth and when. It means Russian ISP could cut the traffic when they believe it is necessary and justified. Does it mean that they don’t have enough capacity to ensure net neutrality or they just endeavor to control the internet?

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SWD IA on EU copyright modernisation – impacts of first option for digital retransmission

Option 1 – Mandatory collective management of rights to retransmission of TV / radio broadcasts by means of IPTV and other retransmission services provided over “closed” electronic communications networks

Option 1 would enhance the level of legal certainty for the benefit of a specific category of retransmission services – those provided over “closed” electronic communications networks – and can be expected to contribute to a better offer of such services, depending on market situations in particular MS.

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Fair use of books in institutes of higher education

In this case plaintiffs, consisting of individuals and associational organizations, assert claims for copyright infringement for the alleged unauthorized reproduction and distribution of books owned by the Universities. Defendants have entered into agreements with Google, Inc. (“Google”), that allow Google to create digital copies of works in the Universities’ libraries in exchange for which Google provides digital copies to defendants (the “Mass Digitization Project” or “MDP”).

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SWD IA on EU copyright modernisation – impacts of baseline option for digital retransmission

The legal uncertainty as to whether all rights relevant for the retransmission have been cleared faced by the retransmission service providers other than cable is expected to persist under the baseline option. As a result, those service providers can be expected to continue limiting their retransmission offers. Moreover, in view of the legal uncertainty, some market players might hesitate to launch innovative retransmission services or delay the launch in order to deal with licensing.

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Online news aggregation and neighbouring rights for news publishers – evidence

New draft paper takes an economic perspective on the neighbouring rights debate and tries to find an explanation for this market outcome. First of all, it examines the economic impact of news aggregation platforms on news publishers. The available empirical evidence shows that news aggregators have a positive impact on news publishers’ advertising revenue. That explains why publishers are eager to distribute their content through aggregators.

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How you can lose your art thanks to Internet

Wolk, an independent artist of fantasy images and sports art, licenses her images through an exclusive licensing agent. Some of the images can consume as much as a year of Wolk’s professional time to create and produce in final form. The sole source of income for Wolk is the sale or licensing of her art, and Wolk runs an online store that exclusively sells her art. Photobucket is a photo-sharing ISP that operates a website located at www.photobucket.com.

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GS Media v Sanoma – observations of the parties in court

In the view of the Portuguese Republic, the person who makes the work directly available to the public and who therefore effects an ‘act of communication’ within the meaning of Article 3(1) of Directive 2001/29 is the person who places the work on the server from which the internet user is able to access it. The Portuguese Republic submits that it is not the ‘hyperlinker’ — who merely makes a secondary or indirect ‘communication’ — that ensures that ‘members of the public may access [the works] from a place and at a time individually chosen by them’. The act which actually produces that effect is undertaken by the person who effected the initial communication.

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Viacom-Google battle

YouTube, owned by Google, operates a website onto which users may upload video files free of charge. Uploaded files are copied and formatted by YouTube’s computer systems, and then made available for viewing on YouTube. Plaintiffs claimed that “Defendants had ‘actual knowledge’ and were ‘aware of facts or circumstances from which infringing activity was apparent,’ but failed to do anything about it.”

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