Managing IP Magazine > Archive > March 2012 > Copyright: Mobile TV rights put in doubt

Copyright: Mobile TV rights put in doubt



27 February 2012


In Australia last month, the Federal Court controversially ruled in favour of telecoms provider Optus, saying it did not infringe copyright laws by showing sports online with its new TV recording app TV Now.

The service allows users to record free-to-air televised games and play them back on compatible devices – computers, 3G phones, and Apple and Android products – with a delay of about two minutes. The Australian Football League (AFL) and National Rugby League (NRL) own the copyright in broadcasts made on free-to-air television of their sports matches. Telstra is an exclusive licensee and broadcasts live and pre-recorded matches via mobile phones and the internet. The three parties sought to stop Optus from providing TV Now, claiming that it infringed their copyright when it broadcasted several games last year. The key issue concerned whether Optus or the user makes the recording when the record button on a compatible device is pressed. Rares ruled that the user makes the recording, stating that his or her action is similar to copying a television broadcast on a VCR, digital-video recorder or a similar device.

UK

Premier League can enforce copyright. The FA Premier League can enforce its rights against UK pubs using feeds from overseas broadcasters – but despite nearly five years of litigation it’s still not clear what rights it has. The judgment by Lord Justice Kitchin published in February applied a ruling of the Court of Justice of the EU, which was given in October last year.

Canada

ISPs win in Supreme Court. A judgment upheld the Federal Court of Appeal’s position that internet service providers are not subject to the Broadcasting Act when they provide access to broadcasting over the internet, on the grounds that they do not exercise control over content. The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists originally asked for ISPs to be taxed under the Broadcasting Act in 2008.

EU

Tough data protection proposals. Planned reforms to data protection rules in Europe, announced by EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding in January, were criticised for imposing too large a burden on businesses. Under the proposals, any data protection breaches should be reported within 24 hours and companies face fines of 2% of their worldwide turnover. And any company, wherever it is based in the world, would be affected if it targets EU citizens.

EU

Copyright filtering systems ruled illegal. Internet companies welcomed a ruling from the Court of Justice of the EU in Sabam v Netlog, which stated clearly that service providers cannot be required to install a content-filtering system. The ruling addressed a question referred from Belgium on the E-commerce, Copyright and Enforcement Directives. The dispute arose in 2009 when Sabam asked Netlog to pay a fee for musical and audio-visual works on its site.

The Associated Press has sued Meltwater News in a New York court, alleging copyright infringement and so-called hot news misappropriation.

A Swedish court fined a housesitter $900 when he was found to have used Bittorent to download dozens of files.

US President Obama devoted a portion of his annual State of the Union address to promise tougher anti-piracy enforcement.

Authors and composers collected €7.5 billion in royalties in 2010, a 5.5% increase on the previous year, according to figures published by international body CISAC.

Belgian collecting society Sabam came a step closer to suing internet access providers after they refused to agree to pay fees to compensate copyright owners.

The two firms paid by former file-sharing company Megaupload to store users' data agreed to wait at least two weeks before they began deleting the files.

The Irish government is expected to amend the Copyright and Related Rights Act 2000 with a statutory instrument to help block websites.

A UK judge dealt a fatal blow to website The Pirate Bay, ruling that both operators and users infringe copyrights owned by a range of music companies.


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