Monday Miscellany

GS Media and the evolving linking regime – Did we just wreck the Internet?

On 8 September 2016 the Court of Justice of the European Union gave its long-anticipated decision in the case GS Media BV v Sanoma Media Netherlands BV and Others (the “GS Media case”), the latest episode in the line of hyperlinking cases, a subset of the convoluted CJEU case law concerning communication to the public under the InfoSoc Directive.

Introducing a new test for linker liability, and applying this test in the case, the court's finding was that GS Media had effected a communication to the public. As explained by the court, we now know that hyperlinking to protected freely available works can, indeed, constitute copyright infringement if certain conditions are met.

What were the circumstances that led to the court case? Has the risk of copyright infringement by content creators, internet users and publishers increased as consequence of the decision? And is the law concerning hyperlinking now finally settled?

These are some of the topics that will be discussed in the guest lecture by Antti Härmänmaa, head of IPR at Sanoma on the 24th of April at the University of Southampton School of Law. Those who are not members of the University of Southampton will need to email Kat Eleonora Rosati at e.rosati@soton.ac.uk.

Youth participation  

Easter (holiday...) Kat.

Each year young people (18-30 years old) residing in all European countries are encouraged to proactively represent the European youth throughout the EuroDIG process. There are funds available for travel and hotel costs for a limited number of applicants. 

This year there will be two separate programmes: YOUthDIG - is the Youth Dialogue on Internet Governance focusing on the EuroDIG agenda and prepare young people for their participation at EuroDIG; and Copyfighters – is organised by Young Pirates of Europe focusing on a modern copyright reform. See more information here. 

Join OxFirst for a free webinar on April 20, 2017 - 15.00 BST -- The approach of the European Patent Office to digitalization and the Internet of Things.

With the Internet of Things promising significant job creation and growth rates, the question arises what patent offices can do to promote competitiveness in the digital space. In this talk Prof. Yann Meniere, Chief Economist of the EPO, discusses the EPO's major steps in ensuring high patent quality and fostering transparency in this field. Registration can be done here. 

Attention! Only registrations undertaken with professional email addresses will be accepted (i.e. registrations from yahoo, gmail or similar private accounts will not be accepted).

The EPO offers grants for academic research

The 10th of April marks the launch of the new EPO Academic Research Programme offering financial support for academic research on patent-related matters. The programme will award grants of up to EUR 100 000 to winning proposals. This initiative will complement the EPO's long-standing commitment to support research on patent data through its Worldwide Patent Statistical Database (PATSTAT).

The deadline for proposals is 15 June 2017. See more details here.

Photo courtesy of Ms. Nyske Blokhuis.