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 3  4 February 2004
Features:
Copyright -
In Vereniging Stemra and Stichting BUMA v KaZaA BV, the Dutch Supreme Court upheld a decision not to grant an injunction against KaZaA, a peer to peer platform.
Domain Names -
In Gary Kremen v Online Classifieds the US Court of Appeals found that Network Solutions, a ‘.com’ registrar, who had given away a registrant’s domain name, sex.com, were guilty of conversion on the basis of the registrant’s property right in the domain name.
Online gambling -
In Piergiorgio Gambelli and others, on a reference from an Italian court, the European Court of Justice ruled that Italian legislation prohibiting the taking of bets without a licence from the Italian authorities amounted to a restriction on the freedom of establishment and the freedom to provide services but left it to the national court to determine whether the prohibition was nevertheless justifiable and proportionate.
Trademarks -
In Viaticum and Luteciel v Google France, Google was successfully sued by Luis Vuitton for trademark infringement in relation to the sale of its trademarks and domain names as keywords.
Data Protection -
In Durant v Financial Services Authority the Court of Appeal considered, for the first time, the scope of information covered by the Data Protection Act 1998, and in particular, that “personal data” should be narrowly construed, as should “relevant filing system”.
Data Protection -
In Criminal proceedings against Lindqvist, on a reference from a Swedish court, the European Court of Justice held that the act of referring to, and identifying, persons on an internet page was a processing of personal data within Article 3(1) of the Data Protection Directive (95/46/EC).
Copyright -
In Recording Industry Association of America v Verizon Internet Services the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia decision means that the music industry cannot use subpoena provisions of Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to compel internet service providers to disclose identities of subscribers sharing digital files of copyrighted music.
Copyright -
In Video Pipeline v Buena Vista Home Entertainment and a counterclaim motion brought by Buena Vista, the US District Court of New Jersey held that use of Disney trailers on the net and the creation of preview clips streamed to interested customers was not ‘fair’ use under the Copyright Act.
Patents -
In InterTrust Technologies v Microsoft, Microsoft fails to obtain summary judgment for partial invalidity of InterTrust’s digital rights management patents; Court adopts InterTrust’s interpretation of patent claims in “mini-Markman” hearing.
EU Competition -
In Deutscher Apothekerverband eV v 0800 DocMorris NV, on a reference from a German court, the European Court of Justice protects the import via the internet of authorised non-prescription drugs.
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