This is a unique s.97A of the CDPA 1988 blocking injunction case, aimed at tackling copyright-infringing, live streaming of Premier League matches. The successfully obtained order (largely agreed between the parties) obliges the defendant Internet Service Providers to block the IP addresses of streaming servers during Premier League matches. A list of those servers was provided at the time the order was given, and the order specifies that this list is to be updated by the claimants every week during the Premier League season. It is of note that the blockade is to be in effect only during the live transmissions. In the rights balancing exercise, the Court found that the copyright of claimants outweighs any possible risks to the defendant ISPs' freedom to conduct a business and the users's freedom to impart or receive...
The claimants applied for a “Newzbin 2” blocking order against websites which made available and facilitated the use of the so called Popcorn Time applications (used for BitTorrent-based, illegal streaming of copyrighted content). The order was granted, with the websites’ owners found jointly liable for the infringements and the Popcorn Time application being characterised as having no legitimate purpose.
Section 56 of this Act repeals sections 17 and 18 of the Digital Economy Act 2010 (which warranted the introduction of specific website blocking injunctions, see below).
Another “Newzbin 2” injunction case – an application was granted against 21 torrent websites. It is worth to add that the CJEU case C-466/12 Svensson, and its impact on the notion of communication to the public were distinguished; however, it was stated that the European court’s decision did not change the legal steps required to obtain the “Newzbin 2” injunctions in the UK.
Self-Regulation/Voluntary Agreement/Code of Conduct
A programme based on the “notice & notice” variant of the graduated response approach. UK ISPs have agreed to send educational notices to P2P filesharers who are found by the copyright holders to share the latters’ content online. See also UK Gov Press Release
A successful application for a “Newzbin 2” blocking injunction against two streaming websites (SolarMovie and TubePlus), which were found to facilitate copyright-infringing activities.