ECJ Rules on Jurisdiction for Copyright Infringement

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Yesterday, the Court of Justice of the European Union delivered its judgment in Pinckney v. KDG Mediatech (Case C-170/12).

Mr Pinckney, who lives in Toulouse (France), claims to be the author, composer and performer of 12 songs recorded by the group Aubrey Small on a vinyl record. When he discovered that those songs had been reproduced without his authority on a compact disc pressed in Austria by Mediatech, then marketed by United Kingdom companies Crusoe or Elegy through various internet sites accessible from his residence in Toulouse, Mr Pinckney brought an action against Mediatech before a French court seeking compensation for damage sustained on account of the infringement of his copyrights. Mediatech challenged the jurisdiction of the French courts.

The European Court understood the question formulated by the referring court to be whether Article 5(3) of the Brussels I Regulation must be interpreted as meaning that where is an alleged infringement of a copyright which is protected by the Member State of the court seised, that court has jurisdiction to hear an action to establish liability brought by the author of a work against a company established in another Member State, which has in the latter State reproduced that work on a material support which is subsequently marketed by companies established in a third Member State through an internet site which is also accessible in the Member State of the court seised.

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Venice Conferences on Institutional Arbitration (12 and 19 October 2013)

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The Venice Chamber of Arbitration and the Venice Chamber of Commerce, in collaboration with the University of Venice “Cà Foscari” and ARBIT (Italian Forum for Arbitration and ADR), will host two one-day conferences on institutional arbitration: “Arbitrato interno e internazionale: aspetti procedurali dall’avvio all’esecuzione del lodo in Italia e nel mondo” [Internal and International Arbitration: Procedural Aspects from the Commencement to the Execution of the Award in Italy and in the World].

Venice-Arbitration-Chamber-LogoThe conferences, which will take place in Venice on Saturday 12 October and Saturday 19 October, will focus on institutional arbitration (both in international commercial and investment disputes), under the point of view of the procedural aspects (“L’arbitrato istituzionale. Aspetti procedurali”, 12 October) and of the challenging and enforcement of the arbitral award (“L’arbitrato istituzionale. Il lodo: annullamento, nullità, esecuzione”, 19 October). Speakers include leading academics and practitioners and members of arbitration institutions (see the full programme here).

Participation is free, upon registration on the site of the Venice Chamber of Arbitration.

Commentary of the Succession Regulation

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The first commentary of the European Regulation No 650/2012 of 4 July 2012 on jurisdiction, applicable law, recognition and enforcement of decisions and acceptance and enforcement of authentic instruments in matters of succession and on the creation of a European Certificate of Succession has been published by Bruylant.

The book is conceived as a commentary, article by article, of the Regulation. It is written in French and, in its 940 pages, it provides a comprehensive analysis of comparative law as well as extensive explanations and examples in order to allow practitioners to address the issues of future international successions and family business succession planning.

With the contributions of :

Andrea Bonomi (Introduction ; Préambule ; article 1er, paragraphe 1er, paragraphe 2,
points a à g, j ; article 3, paragraphe 1er, points a à d ; articles 4-12 ;
article 14-18 ; articles 20-22 ; article 23, paragraphe 1er, paragraphe 2,
points a à d, h, i ; articles 24-27 ; articles 34-38 ; articles 74-75 ;
articles 77-82);

Ilaria Pretelli (Articles 39-58);

Patrick Wautelet (Article 2 ; article 3, paragraphe 1er, points e à i, paragraphe 2 ;
article 13 ; article 19 ; article 23, points e à g, j ; articles 28-33 ;
articles 59-73 ; article 76 ; articles 83-84).

More information available here.

Online Symposium: Abolition of Exequatur and Human Rights

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In June, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in Povse v. Austria that the abolition of exequatur was compatible with the European Convention of Human Rights, and that the mechanism introduced by the Brussels IIa Regulation was not dysfunctional from the perspective of the Convention.

In December 2010, the Court of  Justice of the European Union had also ruled in Joseba Andoni Aguirre Zarraga v. Simone Pelz that the allegation of  violation of fundamental rights should not prevent the free circulation of judgments under the Brussels IIa Regulation.

For several years, European scholars debated whether the project of the European Commission to abolish exequatur and to suppress the public policy exception would comport with Member States ECHR obligations. Many thought that it would not. Member States eventually successfully resisted the project which was not adopted in the Brussels I Recast.

From this week-end onwards, ConflictofLaws.net will organize an online symposium on Abolition of Exequatur and Human Rights. Scholars from different jurisdictions will share their first reaction on the Povse judgment and on its consequence on the evolution of European civil procedure. Readers interested in participating may either contact directly the editors or use the comment section.

Jurcys on Economic Analysis of Party Autonomy in Family Law

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Paulius Jurcys (Kyushu University Graduate School of Law) has posted Party Autonomy in International Family Law: A Note from the Economic Perspective on SSRN.

This paper aims to contribute to the discussion concerning the scope of party autonomy in international family law. It is suggested to adopt a wider view and analyse the principle of party autonomy from the efficiency perspective. In particular, this short note questions the widely accepted assumption that agreements in family law are very similar, if not identical, to other forms of market transactions. In order to facilitate the debate, it is suggested to take into consideration that some forms of agreements perform signaling function and therefore should be treated differently from other forms of market transactions. It is argued that such a perspective could help identify the surplus value of the agreement. The paper concludes with some further thoughts about the implications of the signaling and surplus value to the discussion on party autonomy in international family law.