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Germany Intellectual Property Protection Copyright

International Lawyers Network

Different Kinds of Cool That Still Just Don’t Register: Why Birkenstocks & Melted Rink Ice (AKA Water) Aren’t Copyrightable

In 2015, the Wall Street Journal observed why Birkenstock sandals might be considered cool: “It’s a taboo thing,” said New York-based stylist Brian Coats, who dresses Jimmy Fallon....more

Knobbe Martens

German Sandals Follow the Functional Footsteps of U.S. Cheerleader Uniform Shape

Knobbe Martens on

In a recent decision, Germany’s Federal Court of Justice held that Birkenstock’s sandal design was not eligible for copyright protection. The court held that Birkenstock sandals did not display sufficient creativity to be...more

Goodwin

France Takes Pioneering Step in Recognizing Blockchain Time-Stamping as Proof of Authorship in Intellectual Property

Goodwin on

In a landmark decision, France has joined the ranks of leading jurisdictions in recognizing blockchain as a valid method for establishing proof of authorship and intellectual property (IP) rights....more

Quarles & Brady LLP

German Birkenstock Decision Shows the Limits of Copyright Protection for Functional Designs

Quarles & Brady LLP on

“Aber ist es Kunst?” - That question—“But is it art?”—was before the German Bundesgerichtshof (“BGH”), or Federal Court of Justice, in a recent proceeding involving the well-known Birkenstock sandal design. ...more

Jones Day

Wallpaper With Copyright-Protected Images: Limits to "Expected Commercial Use" in Germany, France and the United Kingdom

Jones Day on

The Situation: Photo wallpaper will most likely be copyright-protected. There are limits to implied consent of the rightsholder, particularly in relation to the commercial use of images or other copyright-protected objects in...more

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

Legal Ninja Snapshot: #Employment Contracts: Digital Employment Contracts in Germany – But When is a Wet Ink Signature Still...

Digital Employment Contracts Are Now Generally Allowed With the new year, the Fourth Bureaucracy Reduction Act ("BEG IV") brings more flexibility by replacing the need for written form and qualified electronic signatures with...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Data Mining for AI Systems Training Permitted Under German Law

McDermott Will & Emery on

In a landmark decision, a German district court recently decided that copying images to create a data set that can potentially be used for training generative artificial intelligence (AI) systems does not infringe German...more

Hogan Lovells

AI & Copyright: First decision, and missed opportunity, in Germany

Hogan Lovells on

In an eagerly awaited decision, the Hamburg Regional Court is now the first in Germany to rule on AI training datasets under EU copyright law. While the court managed to avoid the most controversial issue, namely whether the...more

Hogan Lovells

German Supreme Court paves the way for broader application of implied consent in copyright law

Hogan Lovells on

In three judgements dated September 11, 2024, the German Supreme Court expanded the scope of “implied consent” as a limitation on copyright protection (Cases I ZR 139/23; I ZR 140/23; I ZR 141/23)....more

Spirit Legal

Urheberrechtsreform 2021 Teil 2: Das Urheberrechts-Diensteanbieter-Gesetz (UrhDaG)

Spirit Legal on

Nach dem Bundestag hat am 28.05.2021 nunmehr auch der Bundesrat den Gesetzesentwurf zur Anpassung des Urheberrechts an die Erfordernisse des digitalen Binnenmarktes mit der erforderlichen Mehrheit verabschiedet. Die...more

Spirit Legal

Musikrecht: Urheber muss bearbeitetem Foto auf Albumcover zustimmen

Spirit Legal on

Die Verwendung fremder Fotografien kann urheberrechtlich problematisch sein. Das gilt auch, wenn fremde Bilder bearbeitet werden. Doch wann genau benötigt man die Erlaubnis des Urhebers für eine Bearbeitung und wann nicht?...more

Hogan Lovells

EU General Court: Standardisation documents can enjoy copyright protection

Hogan Lovells on

The EU General Court (GC) recently ruled on copyright protection for standardisation documents, such as DIN (German Institute for Standardisation) documents. The GC ruled that, under certain circumstances, such documents can...more

Hogan Lovells

The end of an odyssey: The German Act to adapt copyright law to the requirements of the Digital Single Market

Hogan Lovells on

The German Act to adapt copyright law to the requirements of the Digital Single Market will enter into force on 7 June 2021 – as the first national transposition of the Digital Single Market Directive ...more

Hogan Lovells

EU Copyright Directive: Further clarity on Art. 17 at EU level but also national concerns

Hogan Lovells on

While further clarity on the Copyright in the Digital Single Market Directive (“DSM Directive”) can be expected at the European level in the next two weeks with the guidelines of the EU Commission on Art. 17 of the DSM...more

Hogan Lovells

Lindgren heirs win in dispute over Pippi Longstocking lyrics

Hogan Lovells on

In a recent ruling by the Regional Court Hamburg (Case No. 308 O 431/17), the court awarded the heirs of children's book author Astrid Lindgren a right to information ...more

Spirit Legal

Wie Fotografen bei Urheberrechtsverletzungen erfolgreich Ansprüche durchsetzen können

Spirit Legal on

In diesem Beitrag werden die drei wichtigsten Fragen beantwortet: - Welche Ansprüche hat der Urheber bei Urheberrechtsverletzungen? - Warum ist der Auskunftsanspruch für den Urheber so wichtig? - Welche Möglichkeiten...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Special Report - 2019 IP Law Year in Review – European Issues

McDermott Will & Emery on

The last year of the 2010s has been prolific in terms of important new pieces of legislation and case law within the European Union, and in France and Germany in particular. Indeed, the European Parliament and the EU Council...more

Hogan Lovells

iPunkt recap… Will CJEU follow Advocate General on unauthorised sampling opinion?

Hogan Lovells on

In December 2018, CJEU Advocate General Szpunar took the view that the reuse of a sound sequence in a new song (referred to as sampling) without the author’s permission violates copyright law (case C-476/17 – Moses Pelham et...more

Hogan Lovells

Advocate General rejects copyright infringement in German Afghanistan Papers case

Hogan Lovells on

Can the Federal Republic of Germany invoke a copyright on military status reports? This is the key question currently before the European Court of Justice (CJEU) (Case Ref. C-469/17)....more

Hogan Lovells

Provider liability: First YouTube, now “uploaded” – next case before the CJEU

Hogan Lovells on

Only two weeks ago, the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) referred various questions to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) concerning the liability of the video platform YouTube....more

Hogan Lovells

German Court rules on Porsche design

Hogan Lovells on

The silhouette and outer appearance of the first Porsche is world famous. Up until today, we see the charismatic shaping mirrored in the current model series. It has been a remarkable and uncomparable success story ever since...more

Hogan Lovells

CJEU: Re-posting content is a “communication to the public”

Hogan Lovells on

Copying an image from a website and using it for one’s own purposes, e.g. the illustration of a memo which eventually happens to be uploaded to another website – this happens a hundred times every day. However, such conduct...more

Hogan Lovells

Europe: Can new “hate speech” legislation set the mould for the Copyright Directive?

Hogan Lovells on

The phenomenon of so-called “Hate Speech” has been in the public eye for a while now, but particularly in German news. Hate speech denotes verbal attacks and accusations based on personal attributes such as race, religion,...more

Hogan Lovells

IPunkt - January 2018

Hogan Lovells on

Kurze Einleitung - Liebe Leserin, lieber Leser, das vergangene Jahr war turbulent: der Amtsantritt Donald Trumps, der Höhenflug des Bitcoin, die Bundestagswahl und vieles mehr beschäftigten - und überraschten - uns....more

Hogan Lovells

Blockchain: Use Case – Copyright

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In the context of the digital use of copyrighted works, the concept of the “value gap” has been around for some time. The question is whether authors and rights holders are sufficiently involved in the revenues generated by...more

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