The BBC reported this week that a website, www.replacement-certificates.co.uk (the Website), which reportedly sold fake GCSE and A-level exam certificates has been shut down following an order from the High Court of Justice. The Website now contains a notice of injunction granted in favour of the Joint Council for Qualifications (Council), representing AQA Education, The…
A small bath bomb firm located in Scotland called The Naked Soap Company (Naked) plans to take on global cosmetics company L’Oreal, which has given notice of its intention to oppose Naked’s trade mark application for NAKED (the Mark). The Urban Decay Naked make-up range is owned by L’Oreal, which has indicated that it believes…
The so-called Alt-right is a political movement which seems to be having a major impact on world events, most famously in the election of Donald Trump as President of the USA in 2016. The influence of the alt-right has been most noticeable on the Internet and particularly on social media, including Twitter. One of the…
‘We Shall Overcome’ the famous civil rights movement song, which has been called the most powerful song of the 20th Century has been the subject of a copyright dispute in the USA. A New York Federal Judge has now ruled that the first and fifth verses (which are identical) are no longer under copyright protection….
Actress Rebel Wilson has secured a large damages award having successfully sued Bauer Media in Australia over a series of magazine articles which she said had portrayed her as a serial liar. The award f A$4.5m is the largest damages award in Australian legal history for a defamation case. Ms Wilson had originally sought A$7m…
We have previously written about the rather improbable case of a photographer being sued by a monkey for copyright infringement. The case has now finally been settled after a 2 year legal fight between the photographer, David Slater and PETA which attempted to bring the action on behalf of the monkey. The dispute arose when…
According to the BBC and several other news organisations, Taylor Swift has applied to register various lyrics from her new single, including the title “Look What You Made Me Do”, as trade marks. The single is Taylor Swift’s first UK number one single. Under UK law, and in all jurisdictions under various guises, there are…
A French court today awarded €100,000 to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in a privacy case relating to topless photographs of the Duchess taken in 2012 and published in French Closer magazine. The case relates to photographs taken of the couple on holiday at a family owned villa in France, and the court also…
