Related insights: Copyright and Database Rights
"Shape" of success: High Court declares non-infringement in Ed Sheeran copyright dispute
11 Apr 2022
Although music disputes are not uncommon, few reach the court room, so there is some mystery about how judges determine whether a musician has copied another's work. Fortunately, the recent judgment involving Ed Sheeran's "Shape of You" gives some insight on what artists need to prove to succeed, how the parties presented their cases and, ultimately, why Mr Justice Zacaroli found in favour of Mr Sheeran
UKIPO calls for views on copyright protection for manufactured artistic works
16 Aug 2021
The UK Intellectual Property Office has opened a consultation on the impact of the repeal of section 52 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, which limited the term of copyright protection for industrially manufactured artistic works to 25 years.
Intellectual Property Enterprise Court revisits joint authorship after retrial is ordered in Martin v Kogan
01 Mar 2021
Following the decision of the Court of Appeal to remit the case back to the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court, there has been another judgment in the dispute between Julia Kogan and Nicholas Martin, concerning the authorship of the screenplay of the film 'Florence Foster Jenkins'.
Spotlight thrown onto imaging orders – Court of Appeal issues warning shot
08 Oct 2020
With advances in forensic tools, it has become increasingly common for courts to grant imaging orders (in support of search orders) for the quick and comprehensive preservation of electronically stored data on hard drives, laptops, etc. An advantage of imaging orders is that they allow the search process to be far less intrusive and disruptive for the business/premises that are being searched. On the other hand, a disadvantage is that the imaging process does not discriminate between documents that pertain to the issues of the proceedings and are covered by the search orders from documents that are irrelevant and/or privileged.
Designs and copyright protection: UK drifts closer towards Europe
27 May 2020
A recent decision of the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court ("IPEC") has addressed the extent to which mass produced articles can and should benefit from copyright protection.
Preservation is priority – a lesson in the execution of 'search' orders
13 May 2020
The High Court has reiterated that the primary aim of search orders is to preserve evidence, not to serve as some form of early disclosure. The High Court also chose to remind parties (and their representatives) that exceeding the permission given to them by these search orders, carries with it the risk of substantial penalties and severe consequences. In a recent case, it was held that the Claimant and its legal representatives, who pre-emptively searched seized material, without the Defendants' or the Court's permission, committed "serious and completely unjustified" breaches of the terms of the search order.
Brexit and... copyright - an update
07 Aug 2019
With the United Kingdom ("UK") due to leave the European Union ("EU") on 31 October 2019, draft statutory instruments are beginning to emerge which provide a more concrete insight into the intellectual property landscape post-Brexit.
The "I" in BIM
27 Nov 2018
Data is big business. An article from May 2017 in The Economist described the dependency of the global economy on data flows. Whether these are being used to develop A.I., improve manufacture, enhance medical research, reveal individual consumer preferences or are applied, as they are, in every other walk of life, they "…have created new infrastructure, new businesses, new monopolies, new politics and—crucially—new economics…" . Increasingly questions arise as to who owns the databases that hold the data and who can use it.
Brexit and… database rights
12 Nov 2018
Following publication of the 'agreed' text of the draft Withdrawal Agreement (the "Draft Text") between the United Kingdom ("UK") and the remainder of the European Union ("EU") on 19 March 2018, our intellectual property ("IP") team has produced a suite of briefings on key aspects of the likely implications of Brexit for IP rights and systems across the EU, to inform our clients what changes they will need to consider making to their existing IP strategies and protocols to continue dealing in post-Brexit UK and Europe. The topic of this note is how Brexit will impact database rights.
Brexit and… copyright
05 Nov 2018
Following publication of the 'agreed' text of the draft Withdrawal Agreement (the "Draft Text") between the United Kingdom ("UK") and the remainder of the European Union (the "EU") on 19 March 2018, our intellectual property ("IP") team has produced a suite of briefings on key aspects of the likely implications of Brexit for IP rights and systems across the EU, to inform our clients what changes they will need to consider making to their existing IP strategies and protocols to continue dealing in post-Brexit UK and Europe. The topic of this note is how Brexit will impact copyright.
Insights
Stay informed
