When I give talks to aspiring filmmakers, one of the points when I go over fair use that I regrettably have to make is that despite a clear fair use argument, if they are trying to get commercial release that they will need copyright clearance anyway. This is because of the difficulty of getting Errors [...]

There is a story in yesterday’s Scotsman about the increase in mediation in Scotland. It is a profile on advocate John Sturrock QC and his mediation firm Core Solutions, which offers mediation services. One comparative aspect caught my eye: He says the use of mediation in corporate and business matters has grown dramatically in Scotland [...]

Via the Herald, First Minister of Scotland Jack McConnell discussed the business risks of Scottish companies expanding into China in relation to IP: “In music and games, there are real issues for global companies who are finding that what is about to become the biggest consumer society, which should be very open and available, is [...]

This interview serves as a reminder that it isn’t just having IP laws, but a structure and climate to encourage businesses to create the IP in the first place, that is important to growth. The Scotsman has an interview with Aisling Burnand of the BioIndustry Association, in which she mentions the need for government support [...]

[BILETA 2007 Accepted Papers] Wow. This year’s BILETA is shaping up to be really interesting. Below are some of the presentations that I have already staked out in my schedule: Joel D’Silva – Nanotechnology: Development, Risk and Regulation (besides an interest in emerging tech and the law, I’ve had a number of engineering friends in [...]

The theme of the night’s discussion among leading academics, lawyers, and representatives ranging from the Federation Against Copyright Theft to Scotland’s small business interests was that the Gowers report was plagued by a lack of supporting evidence and little thinking about the practical side of the reforms that it espoused. The meeting, entitled ‘The Gowers [...]

The AHRC Research Centre (aka my employer) are hosting an Open Forum entitled Gowers Review of Intellectual Property: Challenges for Scotland, discussing, funnily enough, The Gowers Review of Intellectual Property. The event goes from 6-8pm on Wednesday 7th February in Lecture Theatre 175 in Old College. Gowers, in the report, asks for (possibly) statutory damages: [...]