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 ]
European libraries are allowed to digitize books without the consent of the rights holder, the senior advisor to Europe’s top court said Thursday.The European Copyright Directive does not prevent the digitization of books in a library’s collection if those books are made accessible to the public... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2014-06-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Google's massive book-scanning project that makes complete copies of books without the authors' permission is perfectly legal under U.S. copyright law, a federal judge ruled today, deciding an 8-year-old legal battle. Continue reading at Wired
[ Wired | 2013-11-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Eight years after a group of authors and publishers sued Google for scanning more than 20 million library books without the permission of rights holders, a federal judge has ruled that the web giant's sweeping book project stayed within the bounds of U.S. copyright law. Continue reading at Wired
[ Wired | 2013-11-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Simon & Schuster has entered into an agreement with Good Books for the sales, distribution and fulfillment in the United States, Canada and open market of all of its frontlist and backlist titles. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-03-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The government is to introduce exceptions to copyright law that would allow individual users to... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-12-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The Authors Guild is seeking more than $2 billion in damages from Google Books – which may make this one of the most expensive copyright damages cases in litigation history. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-08-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
This week, the Obama administration’s Justice Department struck a great legal blow against our open market for books, and indeed against open markets in America. Even though online retailer Amazon has captured more than 50 percent of many key book markets—like the one for ebooks—antitrust... Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2012-04-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
If there was any question that copyright law in the digital age is reaching a critical point, a coalition of Web sites on January 18 offered a stark reminder. In the largest online protest in Internet history, some 7,000 popular sites went dark or otherwise altered their sites, successfully... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-02-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Wed, 26/10/2011 - 15:03 The Publishers Association applauded today's high court ruling requiring BT to block filesharing site Newzbin2, the first time a website has been blocked by an internet service provider in the UK under copyright law. The... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
As Don Henley told the New York Times, what's at stake is "fairness" and "parity." The Eagles lead singer, who also heads a group called the Recording Artists Coalition, was referring to a revision to copyright law, made in the 1970s, that could drastically affect the ownership of some of the... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-08-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Wed, 03/08/2011 - 09:35 The Government has largely endorsed the recommendations of the Hargreaves Review, though, according to reports, business secretary Vince Cable has admitted that the website blocking clauses of the Digital Economy Act are... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 07/04/2011 - 09:06 Introducing an American-style "fair use" exception for intellectual property would result in greater uncertainty for copyright holders, the Society of Authors and Association of Authors Agents have claimed. Both... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this