15.04.2015
NEW TECH & INNOVATIONS
The Court of Justice and Edward Snowden's revelations
On March 24, 2015 the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) commenced proceedings in the case of Maximillian Schrems against a local Irish Data Protection Commissioner (file no. C-362/14) who refused to consider a complaint by Mr. Schrems concerning activities of the Irish branch of Facebook. The case has been given wide media [...]
08.04.2015
ADVERTISING & EVENTS
Severe headache of the Chief Pharmaceutical Inspector
As it has been demonstrated in practice, legal errors in advertising can happen to the best of us. Recently, it was Johnson & Johnson that experienced this first hand. Yesterday, the company “Johnson & Johnson Poland” stopped advertising a medicinal product named “Sudafed” promoted by the following slogan: “condition of head cold” or “quick relief [...]
08.04.2015
BRAND & DESIGN
Register trademarks with Fast Track
The Office of Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM), an entity responsible for registering EU trademarks, has introduced an accelerated procedure of registering trademarks, referred to as “Fast Track”. Thanks to this, entrepreneurs wishing to protect their designations, such as logotypes or unique business names – by fulfilling specific requirements indicated by the Office – [...]
07.04.2015
BRAND & DESIGN
Competitions organized by the Patent Office of the Republic of Poland
At the request of the Patent Office of the Republic of Poland we would like to call your attention to two competitions organized by the Office: 3rd edition of the competition on media coverage regarding intellectual property protection issues, addressed to authors publishing in press, radio, TV and electronic media. Competition works must be submitted [...]
26.03.2015
ADVERTISING & EVENTS
Unsolicited commercial information following consumer law amendment
On December 25, 2014 the Consumer Rights Act of May 30, 2014, intended to increase the scope of consumer interest protection, entered into force. Its enactment was accompanied by concern about the legality of sending inquiries for consent towards being sent commercial information, which was previously a common practice. This issue was previously covered by [...]
23.03.2015
FASHION, CULTURE & ART
The mythical 4 bars limit - an inquiry on music plagiarism
The recent judgment by thejury in the Federal District Court in Los Angeles , concerning the hit song “Blurred Lines,” did once again remind us that even musicians from newspaper front pages are likely to reach for someone else’s work, and by doing so – commit plagiarism. The last year’s song by Robin Thicke and [...]
16.03.2015
FASHION, CULTURE & ART
Copyrights and freedom of speech on the catwalk
Twice a year in four fashion capitals of the world everyone turns their gaze towards catwalks and with bated breath follows the newest creations of the most renowned designers. Last Wednesday – 11th March – the fashion week in Paris ended another season of fashion shows and forced all enthusiasts to wait till September for [...]
12.03.2015
ADVERTISING & EVENTS
CEA: “No” for cider advertising on Instagram
An Instagram account about the cider of the Cider Inn violates the Code of Ethics in Advertising – so follows from the resolution by Commission of Ethics in Advertising (“CEA”) of February 25, 2015 that addressed the consumer complaint against the cider producer. The applicant noticed that in a nation-wide medium, which Instagram undoubtedly is, [...]
05.03.2015
PERSONAL RIGHTS AND MEDIA CRISES
Judgment of the Constitutional Tribunal: is it easy to become a criminal?
This reflection was inspired by the judgment of the Constitutional Tribunal (“CT”) of February 17, 2015 (file no. K 15/13) which settled the matter of compliance with Article 115 clause 3 of Copyright and Related Rights Act of February 4, 1994 (“Copyright Act”) and Article 42 clause 1 of the Constitution of the Republic of [...]
25.02.2015
PERSONAL RIGHTS AND MEDIA CRISES
„Crook, thief, hypocrite” – negative comments on Allegro and personal rights of the seller
The Regional Court in Lublin through its judgment of September 4, 2014 (file no. II Ca 366/14) ordered a defendant who wrote a negative comment about a seller’s account on the Allegro auction service to pay the amount of 300 PLN by way of compensation for infringing the personal rights of the seller. In the [...]
23.02.2015
FASHION, CULTURE & ART
Permitted photography, part 1 – Preface
There is no legal act in Polish law that comprehensively cover legal matters related to photography. What’s more, the law provides no answer to some of the most pressing issues that emerge in practice. This leaves a lot of room for interpretation, oftentimes substantially dependent on the facts of a given case. Considering such issues [...]
16.02.2015
FILM, MEDIA & GAMING
Let’s play… or what does a Latin American dictator have to do with a virtual sword and what does the law say about all this?
Many people associate video games with computer programs. A common approach reduces the legal issue of video games to the analysis of the provisions of the Copyright Act in the scope of Section 7 of the Act – i.e. special rules regarding computer programs. In the case of modern games, this approach is, however, too [...]
