Copyright challenge

From hired car radios to video games, Stevens & Bolton’s Tom Collins, Astrid Arnold and Kate Maguire provide a review of the year’s key UK and EU copyright cases

Tom Collins, Astrid Arnold and Kate Maguire, Stevens & Bolton

2020 will be a year for the history books for many reasons. But, looking back on these turbulent 12 months, what has changed in the world of copyright law? At EU level, we saw the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) tackle topics like copyright in functional designs and the communication to the public right. Meanwhile, at UK level, the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC) has reconsidered the definition of a “work of artistic craftsmanship”, potentially leading to better copyright protection for applied designs, and video game makers have succeeded against the “mod menu” cheats. 2021, the end of the transition period, is set to bring about major change.