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Category: Intellectual property

Third edition of USA copyright office compendium – application tips for sound recording copyright registration

If the applicant intends to register (draft) a sound recording or a sound recording combined with the underlying musical work, dramatic work, or literary work embodied in that recording, the applicant must select “Sound Recording” when completing the online application or must use Form SR when completing a paper application.

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Russian Facebook VKontakte intends to settle copyright infringement lawsuit

Many Russian right holders have tried to “punish” Russian popular social network VKontakte – Russian Facebook – for copyright infringement. Users of this social network like Vkontakte because you can get satisfaction for your taste in music, video or even books. But in most cases right holders failed because Vkontakte’s position is always the same – “we are only informational intermediary”, therefore “we are not liable if the user posts or links to any illegal content”, “we can only takedown such content in our network”.

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Russian patent service does not want to have competitor in its field of activity

Russian ministry of communication has drafted new presidential decree on establishment of new public state organisation – Russian intellectual property center. The organisation is to be established with aim to improve state policy in the field of intellectual property, consolidation of state and civil society efforts for development of IP market and increasing of export potential in the terms of shifting to digital economy.

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Right holders are dissatisfied by Yandex’s execution of antipiracy memo

Major Russian right holders, holding rights in audio-visual works, and Yandex have signed anti-piracy memorandum, the agreement aiming to delete links or pirate web-sites from search results. In order to execute this memo Yandex have developed its own bot – special software searching for illegal sources of right holders’ content. The bot is not only means of memo execution, but the main, and right holders, who signed this memo, are dissatisfied on its work.

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Pirates lose their ad money thanks to VPN?

VPN allows circumventing geographical restriction of access to certain web-site if it is blocked. But most web-sites, including those “pirate”, rely on advertising; their most part of revenue is derived from advertising. One informational agency spoke with operator of one so called pirate site. What exactly distributes such site it is unknown, but the operator says some interesting things.

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Federal antitrust service drafted procedure for compulsory licensing

Russian federal antitrust service has drafted and published for public discussion the procedure providing compulsory licensing in medical industry. Actually the heading of procedure shows that the potential appliance of this procedure can go much beyond of medicine. “On procedure to make decision in the interests of defense and security, including gin order to protect citizens’ live and health, to exploit invention, utility model or industrial design without right holder’s consent and with payment to right holder respective remuneration”.

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How to choose between actual or statutory damages – simply inform the court

When Robert Smith (aka Bigg Robb) recorded his song Looking for a Country Girl, he probably was not looking for a legal battle, too. But Bernard Thomas (aka Bishop Bullwinkle) copied the beat from Smith’s song to make a new one – called Hell 2 Da Naw Naw – and suddenly became famous. Understandably upset at his work being copied, Smith informed Thomas of the issue and attempted to negotiate a resolution. When that failed, he sued and won.

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SWD Impact assessment on the modernisation of EU copyright rules – options for the use of protected content by online services

Baseline

No policy intervention. This option would rely on the voluntary deployment of technologies by user uploaded content services, which will continue to apply their own terms and level of transparency as to the functioning of the technologies.

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Third edition of USA copyright office compendium – publication issues of sound recordings for copyright registration purposes

For sound recordings, publication is the distribution of phonorecords of a work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership or by rental, lease, or lending. Offering to distribute phonorecords to a group of persons for purposes of further distribution or public performance constitutes publication. A public performance of a sound recording does not, in and of itself, constitute publication.

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A trademark cannot be separated from the goodwill of a business

An attempt to simultaneously sell a restaurant and license associated intellectual property has led to ten years of litigation in state and federal court. Michael Shwartz and his family owned and operated the Camellia Grill restaurant on Carrollton Avenue (the “Carrollton restaurant”) for decades. He operated the business – the single restaurant – through a wholly owned corporation, Camellia Grill, Inc. In 1999, Shwartz formed CGH for the sole purpose of owning federally registered Camellia Grill trademarks.

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