Act no. 2021-1382 of 25 October 2021 on the regulation and protection of access to cultural works in the digital age has been published in the Official Journal. It modifies the French Intellectual Property Code (‘IPC’). The Act creates ‘ARCOM’ (the Authority for the regulation of audiovisual and digital communication), a new regulatory authority with…

This post is based on the chapter “Audiovisual Coverage of Sports Events and Copyright Law: Originality in the Details?” in  Natalie Helberger, Joost Poort, Martin Senftleben, Mireille van Eechoud, Stef van Gompel (eds.). Intellectual Property and Sports: Essays in Honour of P. Bernt Hugenholtz, Kluwer Law International, 2021. The principle of non-protection of football matches…

“However, another aspect attracted my full attention.” While preparing a post for this blog about the wonderful panel ‘Who owns the World Cup: The case for and against property rights in sports events’,  that concluded IViR’s 25th anniversary conference, something unusual stopped me. I received an email from a colleague informing me that the videos…

“The study concludes that under their domestic copyright laws none of the current EU Member States offer protection to sports events as such. A handful of countries, however, afford some special form of protection to the specific interests of sports organizers.” A study on sports organizers’ rights was launched by the European Commission in January…