Judges dismiss legal challenge to EU arrest warrant – BBC News
‘A legal challenge to try to prevent the UK continuing to comply with the European Arrest Warrant has failed.’
BBC News, 14th November 2014
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Category: EC law
EU court moves against ‘benefits tourism’ in landmark ruling – The Independent
‘The European Court of Justice has issued a historic ruling against Romanian woman living in Germany that could set a major precedent blocking so-called “benefits tourism” across the continent.’
The Independent, 11th November 2014
Source: www.independent.co.uk
European Arrest Warrant: Judges urge UK support – BBC News
‘The UK risks becoming a “safe haven” for foreign criminals if it votes to opt out of the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) system, senior judges have said.’
BBC News, 6th November 2014
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Court of Appeal applies rare 19th century tort in granting injunction – RPC Privacy Blog
‘The Court of Appeal has granted an injunction against the publication of a well-known performing artist’s book to protect the rights of his son, not on the basis of misuse of private information but because publication would be likely to cause psychological harm to the son.’
RPC Privacy Blog, 4th November 2014
Source: www.rpc.co.uk
Orphan Works Licensing – NIPC Law
‘One of the consequences of extending the term of copyright in many types of copyright has been a massive increase in the number of works in which copyright subsists whose owners cannot be identified or found. Such works are known as “orphan works” and HM government claims that there are some 91 million of them in the UK alone. Because their owners cannot be traced orphan works cannot lawfully be reproduced even for preservation. Consequently, works recorded on such media as celluloid film and magnetic tape may be lost for ever. Much of that work is culturally important and some of it is of considerable scientific interest such as patient records in studies of malaria. In Digital Opportunity: A Review of Intellectual Property and Growth Professor Hargreaves described the problem of orphan works as “the starkest failure of the copyright framework to adapt.”‘
NIPC Law, 3rd November 2014
Source: www.nipclaw.blogspot.co.uk
IPO launches new ‘orphan works’ licensing system – OUT-LAW.com
‘Businesses wishing to make use of copyrighted works that have no known rights holder can now obtain a licence allowing them to use the material without infringing UK copyright laws under a new licensing system launched by the Intellectual Property Office (IPO).’
OUT-LAW.com, 31st October 2014
Source: www.out-law.com
Modern slavery bill is ‘lost opportunity’, says human trafficking adviser – The Guardian
‘The government’s modern slavery bill is a “lost opportunity,” the home secretary’s former special envoy for human trafficking has warned. Anthony Steen, who advised on the legislation and chairs the Human Trafficking Foundation, said the bill, which will be debated in parliament on Tuesday for its third reading, had “yawning gaps”, and failed to focus on the needs of victims of trafficking in the UK.’
The Guardian, 3rd November 2014
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
High Court tests the limits of confidentiality in EC infringement decisions – Competition Bulletin from Blackstone Chambers
‘The European Commission came in for some stern criticism from the High Court this week, in a case which looks set to test the boundaries of confidentiality in EC infringement decisions: see Emerald Supplies v BA [2014] EWHC 3515 (Ch).’
Competition Bulletin from Blackstone Chambers, 30th October 2014
Source: www.competitionbulletin.com
Haeger & Schmidt GmbH v Mutuelles du Mans assurances IARD (MMA IARD) and others – WLR Daily
‘The last sentence of article 4(4) of the Convention on the Law Applicable to Contractual Obligations (Rome Convention) applied to a commission contract for the carriage of goods solely when the main purpose of the contract consisted in the actual transport of the goods concerned, which was for the referring court to verify. Where the law applicable to a contract for the carriage of goods could not be fixed under the second sentence of article 4(4), it had to be determined in accordance with the general rule laid down in article 4(1) that the law governing the contract was that of the country with which it was most closely connected. Where it was argued that a contract had a closer connection with a country other than that the law of which was designated by the presumption laid down in article 4(2), the national court had to compare the connections existing between that contract and the country whose law was designated by the presumption and the other country concerned. In so doing, the national court had to take account of the circumstances as a whole, including the existence of other contracts connected with the contract in question.’
WLR Daily, 23rd October 2014
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
Flos putting us all through the Mill – NIPC Law
‘In 1962 Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni designed a floor lamp with a marble base and a curved lead to a bowl shaped reflector. Those lamps, known as the Arco lamp and you can see a picture of one of those lamps in Achille Castiglioni’s studio in Quick History: The Arco Lamp in Apartment Therapy. Original Arco lamps retail for £1,373 but it is possible to buy a reproduction for a fraction of that price as the Prime Minister’s wife did recently (see “Samantha Cameron counts the cost of her repro lamp” 3 Oct 2011 The Guardian).’
NIPC Law, 17th October 2014
Source: www.nipclaw.blogspot.co.uk
Do me a favour! – New Law Journal
‘Does price parity mean price increase when it comes to most favoured nation clauses? Rebecca Owen-Howes reports.’
New Law Journal, 20th October 2014
Source: www.newlawjournal.co.uk
Right to be forgotten: who may exercise power, over which kind of information? – The Guardian
‘The fifth and sixth public meetings of Google’s advisory council met in Berlin and London recently, inviting experts and the public to discuss the outcome of the recent “right to be forgotten ruling” made by the European court of Justice. Adviser Luciano Floridi explains the consultations.’
The Guardian, 21st October 2014
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Let’s take another look at Specsavers v Asda – Technology Law Update
‘Well-known optical retailer Specsavers uses a logo composed of green overlapping ellipses overlaid with its name ( you can see their branding here). Specsavers had registered as a Community trade mark a black “wordless” version of the linked ellipses. Asda started using branding for its own opticians service that included ellipses that touched but did not overlap, overlaid with the words “ASDA” and “Opticians” in each ellipse. Specsavers sued Asda for trade mark infringement.’
Technology Law Update, 17th October 2014
Source: www.technology-law-blog.co.uk
‘Background’ trade marks may be valid even if never used as registered , UK court rules – OUT-LAW.com
‘Wordless logo trade marks that are never used in isolation can defeat a legal challenge brought on the basis that they have never been used, a UK court has ruled.’
OUT-LAW.com, 16th October 2014
Source: www.out-law.com
High Court rejects legal challenge against reforms to remote gambling regime – OUT-LAW.com
‘A legal challenge against UK government plans to reform remote gambling regulation and licensing in Great Britain has failed.’
OUT-LAW.com, 10th October 2014
Source: www.out-law.com
The Supreme Court and the Rule of Law – Speech by Lord Neuberger
The Supreme Court and the Rule of Law (PDF)
Lord Neuberger
The Conkerton Lecture 2014, Liverpool Law Society, 9th October 2014
Source: www.supremecourt.uk
Commission criticised for withholding information on UK internet surveillance – OUT-LAW.com
‘The European Commission must publish documents containing information about the UK’s communications surveillance operations or “properly justify” its reasons not to do so, an EU watchdog has said.’
OUT-LAW.com, 10th October 2014
Source: www.out-law.com
Lord Neuberger on the Supreme Court: Five key cases from its first five years – The Independent
‘From euthanasia to high-speed rail, the highest in the land has an almost limitless remit.’
The Independent, 12th October 2014
Source: www.independent.co.uk
The UK in the European Convention: fudge, or a shining example? – UK Human Rights Blog
‘Last night’s discussion at Gray’s Inn Hall featured a panel with Dominic Grieve QC MP (formerly Attorney General), Lord Judge (formerly Lord Chief Justice), Bella Sankey (Policy Director, Liberty), Martin Howe QC (member of the Commission on a British Bill of Rights), David Anderson QC (Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation), all chaired by Shaun Ley of the BBC.’
UK Human Rights Blog, 9th October 2014
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
Academic behind copyright law changes warns that rights holders could lose even more control of content by taking test cases to court – OUT-LAW.com
‘Rights holders could lose even more control over their content if they take cases to court to test new copyright exceptions, the academic whose proposals prompted the new laws has exclusively told Out-Law.com.’
OUT-LAW.com, 7th October 2014
Source: www.out-law.com
