October 20, 2004
No Software Patents Website
Florian Mueller has released a website "nosoftwarepatents.com" which explains the reasons for the opposition to legalizing software patents in Europe.
October 14, 2004
Copyright on the Berlin Wall?
Jeremy Phillips at IPKat asks if there is a copyright on the Berlin Wall under German law.
I have discussed this in detail in my German blog here.
Short answer: That might be, since German law also protects buildings. It has to, since Article 2 of the Berne Convention requires Member States to protect works of architecture.
The problem is different. Imagine this - fictitious - case:
Terrorists kill over hundred students and teachers in a school in London. They record this on video and distribute this video over the Internet. Now, if the BBC or anyone else for that matter would broadcast that video over their homepage, would any British court recognize a copyright for the terrorists in their video?
Asking a German court to protect the copyright in the Berlin Wall would be just as problematic. I don't think that kind of copyright claim would go anywhere.