Note: Judith Bussé will be presenting on this topic at the ICPHSO 2021 North America Virtual Workshop on June 23, 2021 at 9am ET.
The COVID-19 pandemic has made it clearer than ever that there is a pressing global need for a coherent, sustainable, social and climate-friendly business and governance model for both private and
In the coming weeks or months, the European Commission is expected to table an ambitious set of draft legislation that, if adopted, will have a major impact on the business practices of digital service providers in the EU, including non-EU companies serving European users: the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The Commission’s legislative proposals aim to strengthen the responsibilities of online platforms and to support fair competition in digital markets.
The DSA’s main objective is to update the e-Commerce Directive. This is long overdue, as the legal framework for digital services has remained largely unchanged since the e-Commerce Directive was adopted in 2000. The update aims to clarify the liability regime for digital intermediaries active in the EU and to reinforce oversight and enforcement.
The DSA will require digital service providers to take more responsibility for dealing with harmful or illegal content and dangerous or counterfeit products. They will have to put in place clear and simple procedures to deal with notifications about harmful or illegal content or goods on their platforms. They will also have to verify the identity of traders before letting them on their platforms (“know your business customer”). At the same time, they will have to make available simple procedures for platform users to complain if they think the removal of their material was unwarranted.
Continue Reading New EU Proposals to Regulate Digital Markets – What to Expect
Memes, animated GIFs, and other images online are a crucial part of today’s Internet experience and have undoubtedly prompted many Internet users to laugh out loud in front of their screens. In the fashion industry, such images and animated pictures are frequently used to create an experience for the consumer and to evoke an emotion
Sustainable fashion is in vogue and retail chains are all too eager to respond to consumers who want to shop more environmentally consciously. ‘Sustainable’, ‘ecological’, and ‘environmentally ethical’ are words that we see appearing more and more often in fashion advertising. But are these clothes and materials really environmentally friendly? Or is this just a
On September 12, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) handed down yet another ruling on the interpretation of EU copyright law. With its Cofemel-decision (C-683/17), the CJEU harmonized the requirements for utilitarian objects, which might also be protected by a (registered or unregistered) design right, to benefit from copyright protection. Provided
On July 9, the European Commission (EC) fined the Japanese company Sanrio – which holds and licenses various popular brands, including Hello Kitty, Chococat and the Mr. Men characters – € 6.2 million for licensing practices that restricted online and cross-border sales of merchandise. In late June it also published the full text of its
In the third of our series of blog posts on antitrust and e-commerce in Europe, we look at the €40 million fine imposed on clothing company Guess by the European Commission (EC) in December 2018.
The case is the first in which the EC finds that restrictions on the use of a brand name for
For twenty years or more, the European Commission (EC) has taken little or no formal enforcement action against anticompetitive distribution practices. However, the recent fines on Nike, Guess and others mark a dramatic change of policy. In the latter half of 2018, the EC imposed fines totalling over €150 million in relation to online distribution
Last year, “GDPR” was without any doubt one of the most hyped boardroom buzzwords, and a popular topic at conferences. This European-wide General Data Protection Regulation aims at harmonizing European data protection legislation and empowering EU-based individuals by enhancing their rights and the protection of their personal data. It was without any doubt the
On March 25, the European Commission (EC) fined Nike €12.5 million for restricting cross-border and online sales of branded merchandise by its European licensees. In December last year, the EC fined Guess €40 million for imposing restrictions on the use of its brand by distributors online. In total in 2018, the EC imposed fines of