Abstract This paper considers the UK Intellectual Property Office’s proposal to align online offences with offline offences to 10 years imprisonment. It analyses copyright cases since 1999, in a bid to determine the principles applied by UK courts when applying criminal sanctions. The aim is to discuss the fairness of the proposal and to question… Read more » about Dinusha Mendis “Copyright and Punishment”

Abstract This paper evaluates the existing legal regime that regulates the disclosure of software interface information for the purposes of interoperability, and suggests an amendment to the EU Software Directive to allow for the dissemination of interface information obtained by reverse engineering. The recommendation is based on the concept that software interfaces require different considerations… Read more » about Sally Weston “Promoting interoperability”

Abstract The notional tests for determining whether copyright in a work has been infringed rely essentially on three elements (which are spelled differently across juridical traditions), namely: the amount of taking, the kind of use that is made of the work, and whether such use is in public. The concept of ‘use’ is pivotal to… Read more » about Maurizio Borghi “The use of the work as work: a viable test for copyright infringement?”

Abstract Various opt-out systems are slowly but steadily paving their way from the outskirts of the copyright law to its centre. What was once a special instrument of a handful of Nordic countries has now become accepted and welcomed solution to many licensing hardships. Yet, the fact that proper introduction of Extended Collective Licensing (ECL)… Read more » about Matej Gera “State of the Extended Collective Licensing in Europe: Changes and Prospects