For my final essay on the GDL (the law conversion course here in England), I chose to write on intellectual property law. I argued that legal uncertainty and lack of proper enforcement strategies results in fragmentation across the Member States. I earned a Distinction (75% UK) on the paper.

This essay (18 pages, double spaced) includes a brief synopsis of intellectual property right basics, followed by a justification of the European Union’s competency to legislate in this area. The third section contextualises the problem of copyright infringement on the internet, with a specific focus on online intermediary liability.

The analysis focused on three key Directives:

  • Directive 2001/29/EC regarding the harmonisation of copyright in the Information Society (InfoSoc)
  • Directive 2004/48/EC on the enforcement of intellectual property rights (the IPR Enforcement Directive, or IPRED)
  • Directive 2000/31/EC regarding electronic commerce in the Internal Market (eCommerce).

The cases discussed were:

  • C-324/09 L’Oreal v eBay
  • C-275/06 Promusicae v Telefónica de España
  • C-461/10 Bonnier Audio v ePhone
  • C-70/10 Scarlet Extended v SABAM
  • C-360/10 SABAM v Netlog
  • C-461/10 UPC Telekabel Wein v Constantin Film

You can read my full essay on Online Intermediary Liability here.

Please note, I have disabled printing and copy/paste privileges for this .pdf