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Search engines agree to voluntary copyright code
Google, Bing and creative industry groups
have signed a voluntary code of practice
covering the removal of links to infringing
content from search results.
The deal, which was brokered in part
by the UK Intellectual Property Office
(UKIPO), will come into force immediately
and has set targets for reducing the
visibility of infringing content in search
results by 1 June.
UK minister of IP, Jo Johnson, said:
“Search engines play a vital role in helping
consumers discover content online.”
“Their relationship with our world
leading creative industries needs to be
collaborative. Consumers are increasingly
heading online for music, films, e-books,
and a wide variety of other content.”
He added: “It is essential that they
are presented with links to legitimate
websites and services, not provided with
links to pirate sites.”
As well as Google and Bing, both the
British Phonographic Industry and the
Motion Picture Association have signed
the agreement.
Several members of the Alliance for
IP have also signed the agreement,
including the Premier League and the
Publishers Association.
Matt Hancock, UK minister of digital
and culture, added: “We are one of the
world’s leading digital nations, and we
have a responsibility to make sure that
consumers have easy access to legal
content online. Pirate sites deprive
artists and rights holders of hardearned
income and I’m delighted to see
industry led solutions like this landmark
agreement which will be instrumental in
driving change.”
The UK government was prepapred to
force the code of conduct on search
engines before they agreed to sign up to
one voluntarily.
Amendment 79 to the Digital Economy
Bill would have seen the UK government
impose a code of practice on search
engines to dictate how they should
prevent copyright infringement.
But the amendment was dropped
in the House of Lords recently, with
Baroness Buscombe saying that acting
on a cooperative basis is preferable to a
government-imposed code.
She said the search engines involved have
been “very cooperative, making changes
to their algorithms and processes, but
also working bilaterally with creative
industry representatives to explore the
options for new interventions”.
“All parties have also agreed that the
code should take effect, and the targets
in it be reached, by 1 June this year. “
Buscombe warned that if a voluntary deal
couldn’t be achieved, “we will re-evaluate
our options”.
Google has now removed more than
two billion URLs from its search results
due to claims of copyright infringement,
according to its latest transparency report.
Nearly a billion URLs were removed in the
last year, with 335,000 websites affected.
Cover Story
The US has listed Alibaba’s Taobao
marketplace on its notorious markets list for
the first time in four years, capping a 2016
in which animosity towards the Chinese
ecommerce group increased. Alibaba’s
Matthew Bassiur discusses why these
negative feelings might be misdirected
page 10
PIPCU Interview
PIPCU has made waves in fighting IP crime,
and its work is far from finished. Detective
Chief Inspector Peter Ratcliffe, who leads
the unit, explains
Page 14
Copyright Law
Fair use is a minefield to navigate,
particularly online. Experts from four major
jurisdictions reveal what their copyright
laws say on the subject
Page 16
Social Media
Courts are wrestling with the legal definition
of users of social networks, as Nathalie
Dreyfus explains
Page 20
China Trademarks
Yan Wang of Peksung Intellectual Property
reviews recent changes in the examination
of non-use cancellation against Chinese
trademark registrations
Page 24
India Copyright
Copyright societies in India are subject
to interim measures that aim to boost
transparency. DPS Parmar and Aniruddh
Singh of LexOrbis report
Page 28
ADR Insight
Alternative dispute resolution mechanisms
are not being used to their full potential,
says IPzen’s Julia Cytrynbaum, but that
may change
Page 30
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