On 3 October 2013, in the case of Peter Pinckney vs. KDG Mediatech AG, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) confirmed that, with certain qualifications, when a copyrighted work is reproduced in one Member State, and offered for sale online by companies established in another, the author of the work can
October 2013
Standard Essential Patents and FRAND Licensing: An Update from Europe
This post highlights material recent developments in Europe concerning standard essential patents (SEPs) and FRAND licensing, including Samsung’s commitments proposed in the context of the ongoing antitrust probe of the European Commission (see our previous post).
Samsung’s Commitments Proposal
In its commitments proposal, Samsung offered not to seek injunctions based on its patents essential…
House to Consider Bill Excluding Clinical and Health Software from Regulation as Medical Devices
On October 22, Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) introduced a bill serving to “provide for regulating medical software, and for other purposes” in the House of Representatives. The bill, entitled the Sensible Oversight for Technology which Advances Regulatory Efficiency (“SOFTWARE”) Act (“the bill”), was co-sponsored by a bi-partisan group of lawmakers.
The bill creates a regulatory…
European Council Taps the Breaks–Adoption of EU General Data Protection Regulation Delayed
Only a few days after the leading parliamentary committee waved through the proposed amendments to the European Commission’s legislative proposal for a General Data Protection Regulation (see here and here), the EU Member States’ governments have decided to postpone the adoption of the Regulation to 2015. Germany and the UK, in particular, supported the delay,…
EU Court Requires EU Authorities to Disclose Information on Impurities and Composition of Substances Submitted by Companies
This post was originally published as a Covington E-Alert
Very recently, the General Court of the European Union held that European institutions and agencies (e.g., European Commission, ECHA, EFSA, EMA) must disclose to the public, upon their request, information on the impurities and composition of substances emitted into the environment even if this may affect…
What Companies Should Know About the LIBE Committee’s Amendments to the EU’s Proposed Data Protection Regulation
By Mark Young
On Monday, the LIBE Committee of the European Parliament adopted proposed amendments to the Commission’s legislative proposal for a General Data Protection Regulation. Earlier this week we summarized the vote and procedural details (here). In this alert, we provide more detail on the amendments that companies are likely to…
EU’s Highest Court Rules on the Situs of Damage of Online Copyright Infringements (Pinckney)
The Court of Justice of the EU (“CJEU”) has now ruled on the Pinckney case, dealing with national courts’ competence to hear online copyright infringement cases in the EU. See our post on the Opinion of Advocate General (“AG”) Niilo Jääskinen of 13 June 2013 here.
In his Opinion, AG Jääskinen took the view…
LIBE Committee Vote Completes Major Step Towards Adoption of EU Data Protection Regulation
In a historic vote today, the leading parliamentary committee on the European Commission’s proposed General Data Protection Regulation, the Civil Liberties Committee (“LIBE”), adopted all compromise amendments put forward to the Commission’s original proposal. The compromise amendments had been prepared by the rapporteur, Green Member of the Parliament, Jan Philipp Albrecht, in close collaboration…
European Regulators and the Eternal Cookie Debate
By Dan Cooper and Mark Young
This week, the Article 29 Working Party (the “WP29”) released an opinion paper on what constitutes “consent” for purposes of complying with the EU’s “cookie” rules — rules that were revised to include a consent requirement nearly four years ago. The paper will be relevant to website providers that…
Petitions to Forbear or Clarify New FCC TCPA Rules Filed
Earlier today, two entities — the Direct Marketing Association (“DMA”) and a Coalition of Mobile Engagement Providers (“Coalition”) — filed petitions at the FCC asking the agency to stay and forbear from enforcing, or clarify, certain aspects of the “prior express written consent” requirement that went into effect yesterday for prerecorded calls to residential numbers and autodialed…