Overview

In this IP bulletin, we focus on developments in relation to online copyright infringement. First, we consider a recent High Court case – Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation v Newzbin Limited - which clarifies the liability of website operators for authorising acts of copyright infringement or for engaging in a common design with their users.

However, the Defendant in this case had clearly operated well beyond the margins of legitimate conduct and was effectively encouraging and sanctioning copyright infringement. Website operators who do implement effective safeguards against infringement and deal appropriately with infringements when they occur are unlikely to be held liable for infringement alongside their users.

We also consider the Digital Economy Act which received Royal Assent on 8 April 2010 following the tabling of amendments in the run-up to the dissolution of Parliament and which contains an armoury of provisions intended to assist rights owners in counteracting online copyright infringement. However, as we explain in our briefing, the final implementation of some of those provisions remains some way off, if they are even implemented at all.

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