Google filed its defense Thursday against the EU’s charges targeting Android. Thomas Vinje, an antitrust lawyer who advises FairSearch, calls Google’s description of Android as an open-source operating system “disingenuous … a phone maker that offers even a few phones that do not comply with Google’s straightjacket faces a cut-off from all of Google’s branded products.”
Documentation on the IPTC Video Day in Berlin on 25 October 2016 is now avaiable.
Google rejected European antitrust charges that it used its dominance over online search to promote its own product comparison website at the expense of rival. FairSearch responds.
Report of the High Level Conference organised by Creativity Works! On October 12th 2016
Last month Africa Media Online conducted a survey to gain an understanding of how picture buyers and picture researchers are using Google to find images. 52 people responded to the short list of questions. 29 respondents were from South Africa, 8 from the UK, 7 from the USA, 2 from Germany, 1 from New Zealand and 1 from Denmark and 3 unknown.
Getty Images campaigns against anti-competitive scraping of their imagery and launches petition asking photographers to lens their voice to their action.
On 14 September 2016 the European Commission published its copyright package including a draft directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market for promoting a “fair and efficient European copyright-based economy”. A step in the right direction for the creative industries online. More work is needed to protect image providers effectively.
CEPIC urges the Commission to translate its strong political commitment to achieve a fairer allocation of value generated by the online distribution of copyrighted content into meaningful legal solutions to remedy the transfer of value in the image sector and provide a level playing field in the online market.
The Commission has sent two Statements of Objections to Google. The Commission has reinforced, in a supplementary Statement of Objections, its preliminary conclusion that Google has abused its dominant position by systematically favouring its comparison shopping service in its search result pages.
Pedro Almodóvar, Charles Aznavour, Andrea Bocelli, Daniel Buren, Ennio Morricone, Alejandro Sanz, Albert Uderzo and over 1000 other creators urge the Commission to properly address the transfer of value taking place at their expense online.
