This book critically evaluates the EU regulatory framework for the liability of host Internet Service Providers (ISPs) for copyright and trade mark infringements and provides a cluster of novel recommendations for its improvement. The book recommends the imposition of a duty of care to host ISPs to curb the dissemination of unauthorised works and counterfeit goods, the ascription of a transparency obligation to host ISPs towards their users, and the establishment of a supervisory authority for host ISPs. Host ISPs have facilitated the dissemination of content amongst users and the purchase of goods online, enabling copyright holders and brand owners to attract a greater audience for their works and goods. However, their services have attracted a high number of copyright and trade mark violations, too. Neither Article 14 of the e-Commerce Directive nor Article 17 of the Copyright in the Digital Single Market Directive provide a solid response to the issue of host ISPs' liability. This book is a valuable resource for researchers in IT and IP law and offers a new perspective for resolving online IP disputes.

With reports from all major jurisdictions where the responsibility of facilitators and intermediaries for copyright and trade mark infringement have been litigated, this very useful book is the first comprehensive global survey of the liability regime that intermediaries may face when assisting others to directly infringe copyright and trade mark rights, or when providing others with the means to do so. It addresses such issues as the following: ISP liability; contributory and secondary liability for trade mark, copyright, and patent infringement; time- and geo-shifting devices and services; consumer identification through dynamic IP addresses; infringements committed on a “commercial scale”; liability of hosting providers; requirements for a breach of duty of care; notice to users to refrain from infringements; filters and other due diligence measures; “actual knowledge”; privacy and infringers’ personal data; file sharing services; online storage services; and liability of transporters and freighters. After a general introduction analysing relevant aspects of trade mark and copyright law, local experts provide detailed reports on positions in the EU (at the Community level), Germany, France, Italy, The United States, Japan, Korea, Australia, and New Zealand. As well as dealing with the issues, each report pays close attention to case law, legislative developments, and procedural issues of injunctive relief and damages. A final chapter covers comparative contributory patent infringement. Along with the very practical value the book offers corporate counsel charged with IP rights litigation, the authors shed light on the fundamental issue of whether attempts to broaden liability in this area are compatible with established IP principles such as territoriality, freedom to operate, and freedom of competition. As a result, the book will be welcomed by a wide spectrum of lawyers and others working in this rapidly growing field, including practitioners, policymakers, academics, and jurists.

This book analyses the doctrinal structure and content of secondary liability rules that hold internet service providers liable for the conduct of others, including the safe harbours (or immunities) of which they may take advantage, and the range of remedies that can be secured against such providers. Many such claims involve intellectual property infringement, but the treatment extends beyond that field of law. Because there are few formal international standards which govern the question of secondary liability, comprehension of the international landscape requires treatment of a broad range of national approaches. This book thus canvasses numerous jurisdictions across several continents, but presents these comparative studies thematically to highlight evolving commonalities and trans-border commercial practices that exist despite the lack of hard international law. The analysis presented in this book allows exploration not only of contemporary debates about the appropriate policy levers through which to regulate intermediaries, but also about the conceptual character of secondary liability rules.

This book critically evaluates the EU regulatory framework for the liability of host Internet Service Providers (ISPs) for copyright and trade mark infringements and provides a cluster of novel recommendations for its improvement. The book recommends the imposition of a duty of care to host ISPs to curb the dissemination of unauthorised works and counterfeit goods, the ascription of a transparency obligation to host ISPs towards their users, and the establishment of a supervisory authority for host ISPs. Host ISPs have facilitated the dissemination of content amongst users and the purchase of goods online, enabling copyright holders and brand owners to attract a greater audience for their works and goods. However, their services have attracted a high number of copyright and trade mark violations, too. Neither Article 14 of the e-Commerce Directive nor Article 17 of the Copyright in the Digital Single Market Directive provide a solid response to the issue of host ISPs' liability. This book is a valuable resource for researchers in IT and IP law and offers a new perspective for resolving online IP disputes.

Despite the apparent advantages of the internet, there is little debate that it facilitates intellectual property infringements, including infringements of trade mark rights. Infringers not only remain hidden by the anonymity the internet provides but also take advantage of its increasing reach and the associated challenges with regard to cross-border enforcement of rights. These factors, among others, have rendered the internet a growing source of counterfeit and other infringing products. It has, therefore, become necessary for right holders to shift their focus from individual infringers to internet intermediaries, such as Internet Service Providers (ISPs), hosts and navigation providers, which are responsible in numerous ways for making content promoting infringements available to internet users. In light of these developments, this book conducts a comprehensive analysis of the liability of such intermediaries for trade mark infringements and considers the associated issues and challenges in the diverging approaches under which liability may be imposed. At present, however, neither UK trade mark law nor English common-law principles relating to accessorial liability provide a basis to hold internet intermediaries liable for trade mark infringements. As such, this book considers approaches adopted in some of the Continental European countries and the US in order to propose reforms aimed at addressing gaps in the existing legal framework. This book also examines alternative remedies, such as notice and takedown and injunctions, and discusses the associated shortcomings of each of these remedies.

To better understand the heterogeneity of the international online intermediary liability regime, The Oxford Handbook of Intermediary Liability Online is designed to provide a comprehensive, authoritative and 'state-of-the-art' discussion of by highlighting emerging trends. This book discusses fundamental legal issues in intermediary liability online, while also describing advancement in intermediary liability theory and identifying recent policy trends. Sections I and II provide a taxonomy of internet platforms, a general discussion of possible basis for liability and remedies, while putting into context intermediary liability regulation with fundamental rights and the ethical implications of the intermediaries' role. Section III presents a jurisdictional overview discussing intermediary liability safe harbour arrangements and highlighting issues with systemic fragmentation and miscellaneous inconsistent approaches. Mapping online intermediary liability worldwide entails the review of a wide-ranging topic, stretching into many different areas of law and domain-specific solutions. Section IV provides an overview of intermediate liability for copyright, trademark, and privacy infringement, together with Internet platforms' obligations and liabilities for defamation, hate and dangerous speech. Section V reviews intermediary liability enforcement strategies by focusing on emerging trends, including proactive monitoring obligations across the entire spectrum of intermediary liability subject matters, blocking orders against innocent third parties, and the emergence of administrative enforcement of intermediary liability online. In addition, Section VI discusses an additional core emerging trend in intermediary liability enforcement: voluntary measures and private ordering. Finally, international private law issues are addressed in Section VII with special emphasis on the international struggle over Internet jurisdiction and extra-territorial enforcement of intermediaries' obligations.