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Copyright infringement in the on-line world

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United Kingdom - Copyright infringement in the on-line world

The EU Copyright Directive and the E-Commerce Directive contradict each other on the question of ISP liability, argue Mark Owen and Richard Penfold of Harbottle & Lewis in London

In the on-line world, the question of intellectual property infringement, and who should be liable for it, is a vexed one. Almost every business wants to exploit the Internet and make money. On the other hand, however, everyone wants to pass liability to someone else. This includes the liability for infringements of IP rights. One question in particular, of how far Internet service providers (ISPs) should be liable for IP infringements has been a controversial topic for some time.

Computer games industry grows twitchy about ISP liability

Traditionally, the music industry has been most concerned about the exploitation and misuse of rights on the Internet and has (at least until now) been at the forefront of the rightsholders lobby in demanding a proper framework for protecting and exploiting intellectual property on the Internet. Recently, however, it has been the computer games publishing industry which has championed the cause for rights owners in the battle against, in particular the ISPs’ view that: It’s nothing to do with us and therefore we should not be liable.

The debate for the computer games lobby centres around two pieces of (conflicting) EU legislation. The first is the proposed directive on Copyright and Related Rights in the Information Society (the Copyright Directive) and second is the proposed directive on Electronic Commerce (the E-Commerce Directive).

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