Welcome to our Newsletter, bringing you the latest in Intellectual Property, Technology and Media Law news.
HWL Ebsworth successfully defends Thunder Road over ‘Pacific Ale’
HWL Ebsworth has successfully defended the owners of Melbourne-based brewery Thunder Road in an intellectual property dispute brought by Byron Bay’s Stone & Wood.
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Copyright in computer programs
The recent New South Wales Supreme Court decision in EIFY Systems Pty Ltd v 3D Safety Services Pty Ltd [2017] NSWSC 1310 (EIFY v 3D) has reaffirmed the application of Australian copyright law as set out in the Copyright Act 1968 (the Act) to computer programs.
EIFY Systems Pty Ltd (EIFY) provided an online induction program (eInduct) which qualified personnel to work on particular sites. In 2011 EIFY and 3D Safety Services Pty Ltd (3D) entered a joint venture (JV) to provide online training and management systems to construction and mining clients. The JV was unsuccessful and short lived. By 2012 3D had begun developing its own online induction program which resembled EIFY’s product in terms of its function, structure, and organisation. EIFY sued 3D and its directors for breach of copyright.
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The new EU data protection regulations
The European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will be in effect from 25 May 2018, and will replace existing data protection rules set out in the 1995 European Directive 95/46/EC. While the GDPR will be law in the European Union (EU), it is likely to have an impact on Australian businesses that operate internationally, as it applies to organisations that act within the EU or interact with its citizens.
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Anti-money laundering and counter terrorism financing requirements extended to cryptocurrency exchanges
Money laundering is widely recognised as a key enabler for criminal activity, and the recent rise of pseudonymous cryptocurrencies has created new ways for this occur. Existing Australian laws in relation to money laundering were not fully equipped for these developments, but amendments have been passed by Parliament to address such matters. ‘These will commence shortly following a brief period of consultation. While the amendments place requirements on organisations running services to exchange traditional money for cryptocurrencies (or vice versa), and are designed to catch questionable activity, they will also potentially lessen the anonymity that everyday cryptocurrency users and investors would ordinarily expect.
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Copyright Act Amendments: safe harbour and disability access
Safe harbour changes
The ‘safe harbour’ scheme, as set out in Division 2AA of Part V of the Copyright Act 1968 (Act) was drafted to offer some legal protection to carriage service providers in exchange for assisting rights holders with the identification of copyright infringers. The scheme protects carriage service providers from copyright infringements that they do not control, initiate or direct, provided they quickly remove the content upon notice.
The Copyright Amendment (Service Providers) Bill 2017 (Bill), currently before the Senate, proposes to introduce several sections to the Act which extend the safe harbour scheme limitations on the scope of remedies to a broader range of ‘service providers’.
Disability access
The Copyright Amendment (Disability Access and Other Measures) Act 2017 (Amendment Act) came into force on 22 December 2017, amends the Act to provide a greater level protection to those dealing with copyright works for persons with a vision impairment.
These amendments follow Australia’s ratification of the Marrakesh Treaty, and aim to improve access to published works for people who are ‘blind, visually impaired and print disabled’. In summary, the Amendment Act will provide exceptions under copyright law, allowing for the legitimate reproduction of published works for visually impaired people.
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eSports – a new type of competition, same old legal issues (but different?)
One of the defining features of the generation dubbed “Millennials” is their love of all things digital. Nothing exemplifies this better than the explosion in popularity of eSports.
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From a trickle to a flood – dealing with Australia’s new notifiable data breach scheme
In recent years it has been hard to escape the rising numbers of high profile incidences of data breaches, where the private information of individual customers or clients is stolen, leaked or merely lost by companies and government entities who have been entrusted with that information.
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