FINLAND
FINLAND
provider (ISP) Elisa to block subscriber access to Te Pirate Bay—the most popular illegal BitTorrent service in Finland.
THE MOST SIGNIFICANT VICTORY RELATES TO THE HELSINKI DISTRICT COURT’S DECISION FROM OCTOBER 26, 2011 ORDERING FINNISH INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDER (ISP) ELISA TO BLOCK SUBSCRIBER ACCESS TO THE PIRATE BAY.
It was the first time a court has ordered a Finnish ISP to prevent its clients from accessing an infringing service. On appeal, the Helsinki Appeals Court upheld the District Court’s decision and in October 2012 the Supreme Court decided not to grant a leave for appeal to the Appeals Court’s decision. Two other major ISPs in Finland, DNA and Sonera, have also been ordered to block access to the service. Te use of Te Pirate Bay service has consequently decreased in Finland by more than 70 percent.
Te Finnish decision follows a string of similar decisions (based on Article 8[3] of the EU Copyright Directive) elsewhere in Europe, including in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Holland, Ireland, Italy and the UK.
practice may not be violated nor may practices that are otherwise unfair to other entrepreneurs be used in business”, regardless of whether there is likelihood of confusion or not between the traders’ practices. Previously the Market Court has required such risk of confusion in order to consider passing off as unfair practice in violation of the Unfair Business Practices Act.
Amendments to the Copyright Act
A draft government bill introducing changes to the Copyright Act and suggesting a new law regarding the use of orphan works was published in the beginning of 2013. The amendments would implement EU directives 2011/77/EU and 2012/28/EU, extending the term of protection for performances and phonograms from 50 years to 70 years and facilitating the use of orphan works, respectively.
Online copyright enforcement
Online piracy remains a big problem for the copyright and trademark industries in Finland. However, the Finnish Anti-Piracy Centre (Copyright Information and Anti-Piracy Center, CIAPC), which represents key entertainment industry associations, has won a few important victories in courts. Te most significant victory relates to the Helsinki District Court’s decision from October 26, 2011 ordering Finnish Internet service
66 World Intellectual Property Review e-Digest 2013
Further, the Copyright Commission, a consultative body appointed by the State Council, published a report on January 24, 2012 recommending, among other things, that the provisions dealing with injunctive relief against intermediaries in the Copyright Act be amended. Te commission proposes that in order to comply with the EU directives, rights holders should be given the possibility to seek permanent injunctions against Internet intermediaries. Currently, only interim injunctions are possible, and the injunctions are conditional on rights holders bringing legal actions against the primary infringer within 30 days.
Hanna Nylund is an associate at Procopé & Hornborg. She can be contacted at:
hanna.nylund@procope.fi
Davide Battistelli is an associate (praticante avvocato) at Procopé & Hornborg. He can be contacted at:
davide.battistelli@
procope.fi
Hanna Nylund holds a Master’s degree in law from the University of Helsinki. She specialises in IP law, particularly in copyright law, neighbouring rights and trademark law.
Davide Battistelli holds a Master’s degree in law from the Roma Tre University. He specialises in IP law, with a focus on international copyright law, neighbouring rights and music licensing.
www.worldipreview.com
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