April 2017

Kickass Torrents website blocked – third party injunctions

Burley J has granted Universal Music’s application[1] ordering the ISPs to block access to Kickass Torrents’ websites.

This is the second decision under s 115A of the Copyright Act 1968 empowering copyright owners (and their agents) to seek injunctions against third parties (i.e. ISPs and telcos) to block access to offshore infringing websites.

Putting to one side stylistic matters, his Honour’s orders appear in substance to be the same as the orders previously made by Nicholas J against “solarmovie” and “The Pirate Bay” (some discussion here).[2]

The Copyright Council also reports that Roadshow Films has brought a new case seeking third party blocking injunctions against 41 websites including “Watchseries”, “Putlocker” and “MegaShare”.

Universal Music Australia Pty Limited v TPG Internet Pty Ltd [2017] FCA 435 (Burley J)


  1. and also the applications by APRA and various other copyright holders.  ?
  2. The ISPs get 10 business days, rather than 7, to respond to applications by the copyright owners to extend the injunctions to “whack-a-mole” sites – see paragraph 12.  ?

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Exposure draft not stillborn

Back in the dying days of 2016, IP Australia landed us with the early Christmas present of an exposure draft of a proposed Intellectual Property Laws Amendment Bill 201? and associated regulations and explanatory materials.

After everyone (well, 17 different organisations) ran around getting in their comments so that IP Australia had something to do after they came back from the holidays …

… IP Australia has announced that the bill itself is still coming, but will be delayed until the Government has finalised its response to the Productivity Commission’s Final Report on Intellectual Property Arrangements.

IP Australia explains:

This is because if any legislative amendments are required as a result of the Government’s response, two intellectual property Bills might be in Parliament at the same time, leading to great complexity and uncertainty.

In the meantime, you could spend World IP Day (or what’s left of it) reviewing the sterling efforts of those brave souls who responded to the call for comments.

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Accor gets its trade marks back

Accor has trade mark registrations for “Cairns Harbour Lights” and “Harbour Lights”, which it used to promote accommodation at the Harbour Lights complex in, you guessed it, Cairns. It sued Liv Pty Ltd which was renting out apartments owned in the complex by others.

Amongst other things, the trial judge had held that “Cairns Harbour Lights” should be expunged from the Register and the registrations for “Harbour Lights” should be amended to remove some of the services including “accommodation rental services” and “rental of accommodation”. Liv, however was found to infringe through the use of:

(a) “Harbour Lights Cairns”; and

(b) “cairnsharbourlights.com.au”; and

(c) “harbourlightscairns.com.au”; and

(d) “harbourlightscairns.com”.

The Full Court has now allowed Accor’s appeal, revoking the trial judge’s orders to expunge “Cairns Harbour Lights” and remove some of the services for which “Harbour Lights” is registered.

At 360+ paragraphs, more detailed consideration will have to wait.

One interesting aspect is that the Full Court confirmed that Liv’s use of “keywords” (really metatags) in the source code of its website was trade mark use and so infringing:

323 The title used in the source data is “Cairns Luxury Accommodation – Waterfront Apartments – Harbour Lights – Cairns Queensland”. The primary judge finds that the use of the words “Harbour Lights” in that title appears to be merely a description of the waterfront apartments referred to in the title: PJ at [434]. As to the use of the keyword “Harbour Lights” (as described by the primary judge at [430] and quoted above), the primary judge regarded that use as also a reference to the apartments as those words appeared in the context of surrounding words such as “Cairns apartments”, “waterfront, luxury apartment” and “harbourside”. Thus, the words were not used as a badge of origin: PJ at [434].

324 The other words used in the source data as recited at [430] by the primary judge are these:

  “content: = Harbour Lights Apartments in Cairns offer luxury private waterfront apartment accommodation for holiday letting and short-term rental”.

325 As to those words, the primary judge finds that the use of the words “Harbour Lights Apartments” in that phrase was, effectively, use as a business name for a business which offers “accommodation for letting and short?term rental” thus operating as a badge of origin to distinguish Liv’s services from others: PJ at [435]. Such use is use of a mark substantially identical with and deceptively similar to each of the registered trade marks in suit. It is use in relation to each of the Class 36 and Class 43 services other than “commercial real estate agency services”, “agency services for the leasing of real estate properties” and “hotel services”: PJ at [436]. (emphasis supplied)

Accor Australia & New Zealand Hospitality Pty Ltd v Liv Pty Ltd
[2017] FCAFC 56 )Greenwood, Besanko and Katzmann JJ)

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