Valve fails to get out of paying its EU geo-blocking fine

Valve has failed to convince a court that it didn't infringe EU law by geo-blocking activation keys, according to a new ruling. The company argued that, based on copyright law, publishers had the right to charge different prices for games in different countries. However, the EU General Court confirmed that its geo-blocking actions "infringed EU competition law"and that copyright law didn't apply."Copyright is intended only to ensure for the right holders concerned protection of the right to exploit commercially the marketing or the making available of the protected subject matter, by the grant of licences in return for payment of remuneration," it wrote in a statement. "However, it does not guarantee them the opportunity to demand the highest possible remuneration or to engage in conduct such as to lead to artificial price differences between the partitioned national markets."The original charges centered around activation keys. The commission said Valve and five publishers (Bandai Namco, Capcom, Focus Home, Koch Media and ZeniMax) agreed to use geo-blocking so that activation keys sold in some countries — like Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary and Latvia — would not work in other member states. That would prevent someone in, say, Germany buying a cheaper key in Latvia, where prices are lower. However, doing so violates the EU's Digital Single Market rules, which enforces an open market across the EU. The five developers were given a reduced fine of €7.8 million (over $9.4... Continue reading at 'Engadget'

[ Engadget | 2023-09-27 12:20:53 UTC ]
News tagged with: #koch media #zenimax agreed #czech republic #member states #germany buying #cheaper key #open market #reduced fine #full €1 #locking keys #region locks #local laws #original €1 #ten days #copyright law

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Industry Notes: Jon Fine Leaving Open Road; Baker & Taylor’s Devasar Leads Publishers

After a year with Open Road, attorney and former Amazon executive Jon Fine is heading to American Media. And in India, Baker & Taylor's Nitasha Devasar helms the publishers association's executive committee. The post Industry Notes: Jon Fine Leaving Open Road; Baker & Taylor’s Devasar... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2018-11-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Rappaport to Succeed Fine as Open Road Publisher

Philip Rappaport has been promoted to senior v-p and publisher of Open Road Integrated Media succeeding Jon Fine who is joining American Media as deputy counsel. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-11-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Saudi Arabia pays UK firms millions to boost image

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[ The Guardian | 2018-10-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A historic Ferrari is going on the auction block. It could sell for $26 million

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[ Los Angeles Times | 2018-10-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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How 'Bigness' Is Failing America: PW Talks to Tim Wu

In his new book, the acclaimed author of 'The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires,' explains why a return to trust-busting is essential for American democracy. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-10-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Salary Survey Says More Responsibilities Don’t Equal a Bigger Pay Day

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[ Folio Magazine | 2018-10-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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EU council allows removal of VAT from ebooks

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[ The Bookseller | 2018-10-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook shares more details about its massive security breach -- after blocking people from sharing news about it

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[ Betanews | 2018-09-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Pan Mac pays tribute to 'great and controversial' Naipaul

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[ The Bookseller | 2018-08-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Piers Torday | 'Reading, writing, telling and sharing stories are the building blocks of humanity and civilisation'

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[ The Bookseller | 2018-08-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Condé Nast puts three books on the block

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[ Crains New York | 2018-08-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Media blasts 'Scamazon' as e-retailer claimed to pay just £38m in business rates

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[ The Bookseller | 2018-08-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Women in Publishing reactivates, schedules pay gap meeting

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[ The Bookseller | 2018-08-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A Sting in the tale fails to derail Irish indie

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Daring approach pays for Maverick as title moves to the big screen

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[ The Bookseller | 2018-07-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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YouTube and Facebook escape billions in copyright payouts after EU vote

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[ The Guardian | 2018-07-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Barnes & Noble fires its CEO Parneros without severance pay

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[ Advertising Age | 2018-07-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Writers and publishers trade blows over plummeting author pay levels

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[ The Guardian | 2018-06-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Literature Wales disputes claim its Book of the Year fails to boost sales

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