The “Declaration for the Future of the Internet”: What Does it Mean for Copyright Industries? – Hugh Stephens

On 28 April 2022, with little advance notice, an announcement was released by various governments informing the world that they had just signed a “Declaration for the Future of the Internet”. In all, sixty-one countries signed this grandiose-sounding document, ranging from Albania to Uruguay. Signatories notably included the US, which was the sponsor of the Declaration, the 27 countries of the EU, the UK, Japan, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and four of the five Nordic countries.

Duchess of Sussex will know in weeks whether she has obtained summary judgment against The Mail On Sunday – Brian Cathcart

Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, will learn within weeks whether she will have a quick victory in her privacy and copyright case against the Mail on Sunday newspaper or whether it will go to full trial in London in the autumn.

Case Law: Duchess of Sussex v Associated Newspapers, Allegations of wrongdoing struck out as irrelevant, complex and costly – Mathilde Groppo

On 24 April 2020, Mr Justice Warby heard a pre-trial application in the case of HRH The Duchess of Sussex v Associated Newspapers Limited, in which the Defendant sought to have parts of the Claimant’s Particulars of Claim and of the corresponding parts of her Responses to the Defendant’s Requests for Further Information struck out.

Holding Google to Account: France Takes a Stand – Hugh Stephens

The French Competition Bureau (l’Autorité de la Concurrence) struck a strong blow in the global effort to hold Google to account under national laws when it issued an order on April 9 requiring Google to negotiate with French press publishers and news providers regarding licensing fees for news content appearing in Google search listings in France.

Mail on Sunday’s Meghan Markle Defence: A Study in Poverty, Part 1 – Paul Wragg

Having read through the Defence which was recently filed by Associated Newspapers Ltd (“ANL”) in the case brought by Meghan Markle I was surprised to see it describe aspects of the Duchess of Sussex’s claim as ‘confused and incoherent’ (para 17) and other parts as ‘irrelevant’.

Meghan Markle letter: what the law says about the press, privacy and the public’s right to know – Hayleigh Bosher

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have announced plans to sue the publisher of the Mail on Sunday Associated Newspapers, after they published a private letter from Meghan to her father earlier this year.

The EU is trying to protect your memes: but it’s a battle against humourless algorithms – Sabine Jacques

The European parliament will vote at the end of March 2019 on a proposal to reform EU copyright law. Under this proposal, online platforms arguably have to introduce technological filters to tackle copyright infringements. This will be of particular interest to people who make satirical memes or parodies based on online content such as art or films, much of which is subject to copyright protection.

Entering the Era of Internet Accountability: The Implications for Copyright – Hugh Stephens

I recently had the honour to be invited to give a guest lecture to the Copyright Society of Australia in Sydney. My talk focussed on how the Internet has evolved over the past twenty years, leading to a severe imbalance between Internet platforms and the creative community because of the abuse and misuse of safe harbours, and how recent events have put the big platforms in the spotlight—indeed in the crosshairs of the public and politicians.

Opening the Book on Open Media – Hugh Stephens

In a blog last week I talked about the role of Open Media in trying to undermine the democratic process and manipulate political opinion by orchestrating widespread anti-copyright astroturfing campaigns in Canada and elsewhere.

Why tech giants have little to lose (and lots to win) from new EU copyright law – Maurizio Borghi

The new European Union Copyright Directive, passed recently by the European parliament after a vociferous campaign both for and against, has been described by its advocates as Europe striking a blow against US tech giants in the battle for control of copyrighted content online.