Exploring the case for simplification of the copyright framework: report of proceedings

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"Beyond copyright": law, conflicts and the quest for practical solutions

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Fashion designs and brands: the role of the informed user and the average consumer

The notions of the informed user and average consumer occupy centre stage in design and trade marks disputes. The current European Union legal framework exposes a tension between these notions as legal constructs informed by normative objectives, and the need to connect them with the business reality of design and trade mark practice. This article investigates how litigation concerning fashion design and brands addresses this tension and shapes the definition and application of legal tests for the informed user and the average consumer. It analyses key criteria that determine who these notional persons are, and how those criteria are applied when performing assessments that combine abstract legal standards with information acquired from the experience that real users and consumers make of fashion designs and brands

File-sharing and the role of intermediaries in the marketplace: national, European Union and international developments

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Cross-border licensing and collective management: a proposal for the online context

Examines the European Commission's ideas on reforming the collective management of intellectual property rights, in particular cross border licensing, as stated in its July 2005 Study on Community Initiative on the Cross Border Collective Management of Copyright. Reviews those aspects of the existing regime and changing commercial climate that prompted the Commission's review. Discusses the study's introductory points in respect of online music services and bilateral agreements and its resulting proposals in respect of three possible policy directions, and evaluates the likely practical implications of the Commission's approach

The changing market for music licences: a redefinition of collective interests and competitive dynamics

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A difficult future for reforms on collective management of rights

Reviews the Commission's Communication on the Management of Copyright and Related Rights in the Internal Market including proposals on an EU wide licence, digital rights management, individual and collective rights management, copyright, competition and external supervision. Assesses responses to the Communication on the territoriality principle, the EU wide licence, digital rights management, competition law, dispute resolution, external supervision and transparency

Online music licensing: the calm after the storm

Reviews the responses to the European Commission consultation on proposals to exploit the potential of digital music distribution by reforming collective cross border management of copyright. Highlights areas of consensus, concerns over the basis on which the Commission identified the present system's inequalities and the responses relating to the use of blanket agreements, competition among collecting societies and the factors neglected by the study. Details the Commission's responses in its October 2005 Recommendation on Collective Cross-Border Management of Copyright and Related Rights for Legitimate Online Music Services, including those relating to transparency, royalty distribution and the avoidance of discrimination among rights holders

Collective management of copyright and related rights: achievements and problems of institutional efforts towards harmonisation

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