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Deutsch: Kroes will Urheberrecht als Baustein, nicht als Stolperstein

During the Avignon Forum for the international meetings of culture, economy and media that took place on 5 November 2010, Neelie Kroes, European Commission Vice-President for the Digital Agenda, expressed her very strong conviction that copyright regulations had to change.

The Commissioner believes the existing copyright rules are not adapted to the development brought by the Internet and that any big technological revolution brings forth the necessity for adaptation. In her opinion, the intermediaries between the artists and the public are those that must understand the change and adapt.

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Deutsch: Belgischer Gerichtshof bestätigt Creative Commons Lizenz

A local court in Nivelles, Belgium upheld in a case decided 26 October 2010 on the validity of the Creative Commons licence in a copyright infringement case when a music group published its music under CC BY-NC-SA.

In this case reported by Professor Séverine Dussollier of the University of Namur, a theatre adapted the music published by the band to make an advertisement for their theatrical season. The ad was broadcast on the national radio several times (with no attribution).

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Deutsch: 'Abgabe für Privatkopien' laut EuGH auf gewerbliche Nutzer nicht anwe...

On 21 October 2010, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) decided that private copying levies on blank CDs, MP3 players and other digital media are allowed under EU copyright law only when charged on goods sold to individuals but not to companies.

ECJ ruled that "the application of the 'private copying levy' to reproduction media acquired by undertakings and professionals for purposes other than private copying is not compatible with European Union law.

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Deutsch: ENDitorial: Endspiel um ACTA – Der Teufel steckt im Detail

The last week has seen a flurry of activity surrounding ACTA, with the leak of the latest negotiating text, as well as the adoption of a Written Declaration by the European Parliament.

Some parts of ACTA remain very problematic, such as the text related to statutory damages.

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Deutsch: Deutschland: YouTube wegen Verletzung von Urheberrechten verurteilt

On 3 September 2010, the German Hamburg state court ruled that Google's subsidiary YouTube had to pay damages for not having prevented and blocked the upload by its users of several videos of Sarah Brightman's performances, thus violating its copyright.

Although YouTube uses a standardized form to users regarding their right to publish materials, the court did not find this enough and considered YouTube as legally responsible for the content uploaded, especially as the platform can be used anonymously, in the court's opinion.

YouTube uses Content ID, an anti-pirating technology to check out video

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Deutsch: ENDitorial: Entwurf zum neuen CR-Urheberrechtsgesetz durchgesickert

A leaked draft of the new Czech Copyright Act was obtained by Pirate News at the beginning of August 2010, after the Ministry of Culture has initially declined the request of Czech Pirate Party to have access to the document three days after the draft was sent out for feedback to organizations affected by the proposal.

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Deutsch: EDRi im Konsultationsverfahren zur Kreativindustrie

European Digital Rights has responded to the consultation organised by DG Culture of the European Commission on unlocking the potential of the cultural and creative industries.

The consultation defines its subject matter very widely and also covers both the online and offline environment.

EDRi's response builds on a range of analyses and statements made recently in or by the European institutions to illustrate the urgent need for a new, credible and sustainable approach to creativity online.

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Deutsch: Urheberrecht und kulturelle Vielfalt

The conclusions of a study commissioned by the Culture and Education Committee (CULT), summarising the state of implementation of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (ratified by the European Community in 2007) has been publicly presented.

The study focused on fields where the EU would be expected to provide leadership.