Tuesday shorts

If you've nothing better to do tomorrow and you find yourself in Central London, why not pop in to Atlantic House, Holborn Viaduct, at 5.30pm for 6pm, courtesy of Hogan Lovells International LLP, to hear Cambridge IP Professor Lionel Bently speak on "The future of European copyright". It's an AIPPI gathering and you can get the details from AIPPI UK's website here. Drinks will take place afterwards. Admission is £20 for non-members, but free for members.


"Member States Discuss Key Copyright Issues" is the title of a recent media release from the World Intellectual Property Organization. Essentially, WIPO Members don't share the same views on all subjects, it seems. This blog's favourite line is "During a late night discussion, agreed language for final conclusions proved elusive".

Thanks, Jeff John Roberts, for this link to news that Canadian lawyers are suing media barons Thomson Reuters for copyright infringement. This is a class action on behalf of the entire Canadian legal profession, alleging that the defendant copies publicly available court filings, including pleadings, affidavits and notices of motion, which are prepared by lawyers but which are then made for available for download to subscribers via its Litigator service. On payment of the subscription fee, the user is authorised to copy and edit those documents -- but at no time are the authors of these documents informed that their documents are copied, sold, or reproduced. Cheekily, the defendants decorate each download with the legend "© Thomson Reuters Canada Limited or its Licensors. All rights reserved." This action is worth watching, if only for its entertainment value.