Piracy of digital goods is an issue that we have already addressed many times on this blog. Here is an additional post on the topic, which does not contain new material or analysis but which simply points you to two instructive resources that were recently published. First, there is this excellent video, produced by RetroReport.org, […]
Archive | Enforcement
Business models for digital goods in the face of the ‘culture of free’?
By Paul Belleflamme 10 December 2014 7
When solving copyright cases requires to balance fundamental rights
By Alain Strowel 30 September 2014 44
Copyright cases until recently were mainly decided with reference to the rules contained in the statutes (the relevant Copyright Acts) and on the basis of the principles deriving from case law. Under the influence of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) and of the European Court on Human Rights (ECtHR), a growing number […]
The hidden treasure of piracy?
By Paul Belleflamme 2 December 2013 75
You probably know “Game of Thrones”, the most popular TV series of the moment. The first two seasons were a huge hit and the third season premiered on March 31, 2013 on HBO (the American premium cable network that produces the series). There are about 4.5 million subscribers who follow the series. But overall, the […]
Where to sue in a case of alleged online copyright infringement?
By Eleonora Rosati 10 October 2013 0
Readers who follow all things copyright will remember Case C-170/12 Pinckney, an exciting reference from the French Court of Cassation concerning jurisdiction in online infringement cases and interpretation of Article 5(3) of the Brussels I Regulation. The case was recalled a few days ago in the context of new reference C-441/13 Pez Ejduk (here). The fate of the Pinckney case was […]
The economics of copyright protection
By Paul Belleflamme 2 October 2013 54
A few weeks ago (September 14, 2013), the blog American Thinker published quite a vocal piece, entitled “Copyright Strangulation”, condemning the current scope and length of the US copyright law. According to the author, Mike Konrad, Copyright law in America gives individuals, and corporations, a paralyzing stranglehold on our culture. Though its proponents claim that it […]
CJEU asked to clarify copyright questions regarding online infringement, transformation and … exhaustion
By Eleonora Rosati 29 September 2013 0
With autumn officially started, it is time to get back to school, buy a “bouquet of newly sharpened pencils” (you got it: it is a quote from one of this blogger’s favourite 1990s rom coms) or, if you happen to be a copyright case, probably head to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). […]
How entrepreneurial should the state be?
By Paul Belleflamme 24 September 2013 38
In a chapter that I wrote in 2008 for the book “Intellectual Property and the Theories of Justice” (edited by A. Gosseries, A. Marciano and A. Strowel), I summarize how economists generally explain that the state has a role in promoting innovation. The problem with activities generating information or knowledge is that they suffer from […]
Innovation and economic growth
By Paul Belleflamme 23 September 2013 12
The central role that innovation plays in driving economic growth is well known thanks to the pioneering work of Robert Solow (Nobel Prize Laureate in Economics in 1987). In his seminal 1957 paper, Technical Change and the Aggregate Production Function, Solow described what would later be known as the neoclassical growth model (a.k.a. the Solow–Swan or exogenous growth model). […]
How to make innovation drive economic growth?
By Paul Belleflamme 25 September 2012 100
The central role that innovation plays in driving economic growth is well known thanks to the pioneering work of Robert Solow (Nobel Prize Laureate in Economics in 1987). In his seminal 1957 paper, Technical Change and the Aggregate Production Function, Solow described what would later be known as the neoclassical growth model (a.k.a. the Solow–Swan or […]
Mobile industry in Google’s cross-hairs
By Yann Ménière 6 March 2012 14
Though a late-comer to the mobile market, Google has nonetheless made a rather spectacular entrance. Android, its operating system for smartphones, is running on millions of mobile terminals manufactured by other companies under their own brands. The key to Google‘s success is the fact that Android is open-source, and thus freely distributed. This has allowed […]