NEWS
Universal loses first round of Prince dispute
Universal Music Group may be financially liable for incorrectly issuing a takedown notice to YouTube, forcing it to remove a video of a baby dancing to music by Universal artist Prince, a US district court judge has ruled.
YouTube adhered to the takedown notice by removing the 29-second video, before the Electronic Frontier Foundation sued Universal on behalf of the baby’s mother, Sarah Lenz. Te foundation believes Lenz had a fair-use right to upload the video.
“ COPYRIGHT CLAIMANTS ARE INCREASINGLY MISUSING THE [DIGITAL MILLENNIUM COPYRIGHT ACT],” IT SAID. “[THE CLAIMANTS] DEMAND THAT MATERIAL BE IMMEDIATELY TAKEN DOWN WITHOUT PROVIDING ANY PROOF OF INFRINGEMENT.”
US District Judge Jeremy Fogel granted Lenz’s “motion for partial summary judgment” in his decision under a section of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which states that any copyright owner who misuses a takedown notice may be “liable for any damages, including costs and attorneys’ fees, incurred by the alleged infringer”.
Te foundation’s No Downtime for Free Speech campaign, which is actively seeking to reprimand abusers of the act, has the aim of upholding this section by informing defendants of their rights.
“Copyright claimants are increasingly misusing the [act],” it said. “[Te claimants] demand that material be immediately taken down without providing any proof of infringement.”
Te video of Lenz’s dancing baby is currently available to view and listen to on YouTube.
www.worldipreview.com
TM
International trademark filings suffer in global financial crisis, says WIPO
World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) figures indicate that international trademark filings suffered during 2009 because of the global economic downturn.
Filings made under WIPO’s Madrid System of the International Registration of Marks dropped by 16 percent in 2009.
Trademark filings are a “leading indicator” of economic events, said Francis Gurry during a press conference. Gurry is director general at WIPO.
WIPO has tracked the decline of trademarks registered around the world, he said. Registrations started to decline halfway through 2007, which was an early indicator of a difficult 2008, before the 16 percent drop in 2009.
Trademark applications are generally made for new products or companies, said Gurry, so times of economic depression tend to signal a noticeable decline in the number of applications.
Promising signs may be seen in the figures for Japan and the European Union (EU). Te EU saw a 3.1 percent rise in international trademark applications, while Japan’s increased by 2.7 percent.
Gurry said: “Japan is an interesting case. With respect to international patent applications, there was also a rise last year in Japan despite the extremely difficult economic conditions in [the country]. So once again, it’s an indication of how much emphasis is placed on innovation by Japanese industry and companies.”
China ranks top as the most designated country in 2009, with 14,766 designations. Tese statistics show in which markets companies are interested in doing business, said Gurry.
He said: “It means that when [companies] apply for trademarks and they want coverage around the world, they oſten go to China. It is the most designated place where they seek protection.”
Apple fires opening salvo at Google with HTC patent suit
US technology company Apple has filed a lawsuit in Delaware District Court against mobile phone maker HTC, accusing the company of infringing 20 of its patents. It has also asked the US International Trade Commission to block imports of HTC’s allegedly infringing smartphones.
California-based Apple filed the lawsuit on March 2, with an accompanying statement from chief executive Steve Jobs.
“We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We’ve decided to do something about it,” Jobs said. “We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours.”
Tough the lawsuit names HTC as the defendant, it is widely seen as an attack on Google as well. HTC phones use Google’s Android operating system, while the company also makes the Nexus One smartphone in partnership with Google.
But HTC hit back against the lawsuit.
“HTC disagrees with Apple’s actions and will fully defend itself,” said chief executive Peter Chou. “HTC strongly advocates intellectual property protection and will continue to respect other innovators and their technologies as we have always done, but we will continue to embrace competition through our own innovation as a healthy way for consumers to get the best mobile experience possible.”
World Intellectual Property Review March/April 2010
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©iStockphoto.com / anzlyldrm
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