Illegal downloads soar – media report
Today’s Melbourne Age and Sydney Morning Herald have carried a story reporting that copyright-infringing downloads have escalated as a consequence of the economic downturn. Read the article here.
Restructure of federal courts announced
The Attorney-General has announced the proposed abolition of the Federal Magistrates Court, with Magistrates being integrated into the Federal and Family Courts.
Government to amend Section 92A
Further to our post on the requirement for ISPs to have a termination policy for repeat copyright infringers, the Government anounced on 23 March that Section 92 of the Copyright Act 1994, that imposed that requirement, will not come into force as proposed, but would be reviewed. The announcement is here.
NZ hearings decisions now available online
Decisions of the Commissioner (Hearings Decisions) are now available online and can be accessed via the IPONZ website. Search facilities include: The ability to search for key words across multiple decisions Ability to download the decisions in document (RTF) format Improved indexing of decisions by year and descriptions of opposition and parties Links where applicable to …
>> Read more
Ambush Marketing Legislation Review
The final report of the review into the effectiveness and impacts of legislation that protected the Olympic movement and the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games from ambush marketing has been released.
NZ ISPs release draft Copyright Code for comment
In response to legislative changes requiring ISPs to have a termination policy for repeat copyright infringers, the NZ Telecommunications Carriers’ Forum has released a draft ISP Copyright Code of Practice for public consultation. Submissions on the draft code close at 5pm on Friday, 6 March 2009.
Copyright protects look and feel of T-shirt
The Full Court of the Federal Court in Elwood Clothing Pty Ltd v Cotton On Clothing Pty Ltd [2008] FCAFC 197 late last year upheld an appeal from Gordon J, deciding that a T-shirt that copied the look and feel of another T-shirt was an infringement of copyright, even though none of the words, numbers or trade marks was copied. The T-shirt …
>> Read more
On Arbitrage
Late last year, the Full Court of the Federal Court in Polo/Lauren Company L.P. v Ziliani Holdings Pty Ltd [2008] FCAFC 195 dismissed an appeal against the decision of Rares J. Ziliani, described by the Court as “arbitrageur exploiting price differences in geographically diverse markets” was engaged in the selling of discount but genuine Polo Ralph Lauren …
>> Read more
Independent record labels to collectively licence music video rights
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission will allow the collective bargaining by members of the Australian Independent Record Labels Association to offer joint licences to some users for the right to broadcast music videos. See the release here.
New appointments to ACIP
Senator Kim Carr, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, has announced a new Chair and four new appointments to the Advisory Council on Intellectual Property (ACIP). ACIP provides an important advisory service to the Government and undertakes independent reviews of key intellectual property issues. The new council chair is Mr Leon Allen and the …
>> Read more