Tuesday Tiddlywinks

Authors Guild files appeal against Google. Do you remember the Google Books copyright litigation saga? As this Kat reported back in December, it is still far from being concluded. Following the late 2013 summary judgment ruling in which Judge Denny Chin held that Google's activities were to be considered as fair use of copyright-protected works within Section 107 of the US Copyright Act [see here and here], on Friday last the Authors Guild filed its appeal before the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. As reported by Publishers Weekly, in its appeal the Authors Guild is arguing that Judge Chin's ruling was deeply flawed and relied on an “unprecedented, expansive and erroneous interpretation of the fair use doctrine.” Watch this space for further developments!

Back in the UK, here's a sad Easter story. Would you deny a 3-year child the pleasure of having his first name iced on a chocolate Easter egg? Apparently this is what happened to little Rooney Scholes. A neighbour of his went to the Bury's Thornton store looking for a treat for the child, and asked to have his first name iced on a chocolate Easter egg. The store managers refused, on grounds that Manchester United hero Wayne Rooney could sue them for "copyright" infringement. Eventually, little Rooney got his Easter egg, but only because the neighbour consented to having his surname added onto the egg surface. This Kat has the slight suspicion that this story has nothing to do with copyright, but is nonetheless a further demonstration [do you remember the British Library story?] of how often our beloved copyright is used to scare people off with no apparent reason. As to other possible IP grounds, eg trade mark law, they look equally ... groundless.

Can this be true? This Kat was truly shocked when she read on Twitter yesterday (courtesy of @Cgarciaberned) that a new study funded by a coalition of music, film, publishing and videogame companies has found that 84% of content consumed in Spain is from unlicensed sources. This actual "big" data comes at a time when Spain is reforming its IP regime, as Katfriend Fidel Porcuna (Bird&Bird) explained a few weeks ago.

Around the weblogs. On The 1709 Blog Jeremy reports on EU external competence to negotiate copyright protection treaties and the recent Opinion of Advocate General Sharpston in Case C-114/12 European Commission v Council of the European Union. On Class 46 former guest Kat Laetitia tells a story of cows and cream fudge, while on Art and Artifice Simone reports of how priceless art has been recently discovered in a San Francisco storage facility.

Venue for Post-Fordham Copyright Catch-Up. As Jeremy announced last month, on 6 May the Post-Fordham Copyright Catch-Up event will take place. The venue for this seminar will be the lovely London offices of Olswang LLP. There are still places available, and you can register here.

A summer school in Moscow. From 30 June to 4 July 2014 the National Research University - Higher School of Economics will be hosting the International Summer School on Cyber Law "in a beautiful green area in Moscow". The School is covering accommodation costs and meals of selected participants. Further information is available here.