YouTube Threatened with Big Copyright Lawsuit

Global Music Rights is a performing rights company that competes with other collecting societies such as ASCAP and BMI. Its clients include Pharrell Williams, John Lennon, The Eagles and Smokey Robison.

It claims that more than 20.000 videos are not licensed. Royalties that could amount to hundred of millions of dollars.

CEO Irving Azoff says that Google Inc. the owner of YouTube has shown no willing to cooperate and threatened to sue the company for copyright infringement.

Google responded by accusing Global Music Rights of attempting to circumvent the DMCA.

Google already settled a claim with Viacom this year by claiming that no money changed hands.

What is Italian Sounding?

Protecting and developing products requires raising awareness about the historical, cultural and social heritage of our country.

Geographic origin is especially important for Italy, the European country with the most products registered as DOP and IGP.

The term Geographic Indication (GI) refers to DOP and IGP products as established by article 2 of European Community Regulation n. 510/06, OF 20 March 2006.

The matter of the fact is that the so called Italian Sounding Syndrome does not only concern food products: the phenomenon has reached enormous proportions, affecting products of all kinds, violating intellectual property and thus becoming a legally pursuable offense which is costing Italy 100's of billion.

Exactly that happened in Canada. Maple Leaf Foods registers "Prosciutto di Parma" as a trade mark,

produces some salted-dried pork and sells it under the Italian name. Next?

You guessed right: producers who make the traditional, original prosciutto di Parma can't call it by its real name in Canada because Maple Leaf Foods was more clever with the paperwork... 

What is the difference between the two you might ask?  Well...for one, Parma (the original ) only sells ham...

The Panther goes to Court.

By order n. 46868 filed in the Court on 13 November 2014, the Second Criminal Chamber of the Italian Supreme Court decided, to remit the examination of United Penal Sections on the following question: "if the introduction on the market of serial morphological toys, not bearing any brand, constituents the unlawful reproduction of articles protected by trademark is an offense according to Articles 473 and 474, or in art. 517  of the criminal code". 

The case arose from the introduction into Italian territory of a batch of 21,822 puppets depicting a counterfeited  MGM "Pink Panther".

On the merits, the Territorial Court observed that the puppets seized strongly resemble the character "Pink Panther", which are a specific registered trademark and, therefore, as such, subject to trademark protection.

The Court is expected to rule in the next two months.