A blog relating to Internet legal issues by Professor John Swinson, University of Queensland
Adsense HTML
Music Copyright
"On Tuesday, a federal jury in Los Angeles concluded that Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams, the performer and primary songwriter-producer of the 2013 pop hit “Blurred Lines,” committed copyright infringement by using elements of the 1977 Marvin Gaye song “Got to Give It Up” in their composition without proper credit. The jury awarded Mr. Gaye’s family approximately $7.3 million, a combination of profits from the song and damages. That’s an attention-getting amount of money, but the verdict itself is far more damning."
See NYT article
See NYT article
Left Shark Copyright
An interesting story about copyright in a costume for dancing shark. Read the lawyer's response at the end of the story.
Copyright Infringement Detection Service
An interesting service from South Australia, called www.plfer.com. It is a copyright infringement detection service. Created by the founder of Davnet. See story here.
Recommended Reading
I recommend these recent books, which relate to law and technology. Kindle editions are available.
User Generated Content
An interesting story from England. A hotel fined a guest for a bad review on TripAdvisor.
See Couple Fined by Hotel for Bad Review
See also this article, that mentions some lawsuits regarding user generated content
See Couple Fined by Hotel for Bad Review
See also this article, that mentions some lawsuits regarding user generated content
Computer Implemented Method Not Patentable Subject Matter in Australia
A unanimous Full Federal Court in Australia today decided that a computer implemented method of creating an investment index is not patentable, on the basis that the substance of the claimed invention – an abstract idea or scheme – was itself not patentable subject matter, and simply implementing that invention via a computer would not render it patentable.
See Research Affiliates LLC v Commissioner of Patents [2014] FCAFC 150
See also this case note.
Many internet related inventions may not be patentable subject matter in Australia as a result of this decision.
See Research Affiliates LLC v Commissioner of Patents [2014] FCAFC 150
See also this case note.
Many internet related inventions may not be patentable subject matter in Australia as a result of this decision.
Hate Speech on Facebook
If someone posts something hateful, and possibly illegal, on your Facebook page, what should you do?
See Smart Company article about Anzac biscuits.
See Smart Company article about Anzac biscuits.
Negligence and pure economic loss
Australian High Court decision on concurrent liability in contract and negligence for pure economic loss.
Brookfield Multiplex Ltd v Owners Corporation Strata Plan 61288 [2014] HCA 36 (8 October 2014): http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/HCA/2014/36.html
A unanimous decision against finding concurrent liability in negligence to a contractual counterparty who had the opportunity to negotiate non-price terms with a builder. Would a software or IT enterprise customer be in any different position when dealing with a technology or telco provider?
Reloadable Cards
There appears to be a market for reloadable payment cards. Part of the growth in this market is driven by online sales of goods and services. See article on eMerchants.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
How should damages be assessed for privacy and cybersecurity breaches
Listen to this podcast where I discuss how damages should be assessed in privacy and cybersecurity lawsuits. The Lawyers Weekly Show host J...
-
The United Nations intellectual property agency (WIPO) is the latest front in the US-China trade war. http://www.theage.com.au/world/sad-am...
-
The issue of content regulation in China was mentioned in this blog last year . In the last few weeks, this issue has once again pushed into...
-
Finally, what is called direct registration of domain names is coming to Australia. See https://www.auda.org.au/statement/australias-interne...