What is the Digital Markets Act? The EU Digital Markets Act (DMA) is meant to make digital markets fairer and more competitive. How DMA does this is simple: the European Commission designates the “gatekeepers” (mostly the big tech companies), imposing on them new obligations such as mandatory interoperability of gatekeeper’s services and preventing the gatekeeper from favoring its products and services against similar services or products offered by third parties on the gatekeeper’s platform. A quick repeat of what it takes for a company to be a gatekeeper: strong economic position, significant impact on the internal market, and being active […]
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Intro Artificial intelligence (AI) is set to change how we perceive intellectual property. With the recent surge of AI, people are discovering that AI can generate works of art. This raises important questions, such as the attribution of authorship for these creations and the protection of intellectual property (IP) rights. We explore some critical issues regarding AI and its connection with IP here and offer potential solutions. We also provide insight into famous cases and trends that may be crucial for the further development of AI in IP rights. The Owner of the Copyright So, who is the author of […]
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The struggle for existing and new users between companies that develop applications is relentless as our lives have been practically moved to the Internet over the years. It seems that the opposing sides do not choose the means anymore, so this is an IP perspective on Instagram Reels vs TikTok. Back in 2010, when Instagram was launched, social media (“SM”) networks were used to post personal content and maintain contacts, and Instagram focused on creating a photo-sharing platform. As the popularity of SM networks increased, sales came into focus and advertising content became a widespread feature. An SM network collects […]
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The topic of data protection and Big Tech keeps on giving. It appears the subject of data protection simply does not want to leave the main stage and wishes to remain in everyone’s center of attention. This should not come as a surprise, since the world is only starting to become more integrated in terms of digital services provided by Big Tech companies. The most recent “controversy” on data protection and Big Tech comes from Germany, or to be more precise, Hamburg’s Commissioner for Data Protection (“Commissioner”). The Commissioner investigated Facebook’s use of personal data gathered from WhatsApp users and […]
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The imaginary familiarity with a famous person through platforms such as Instagram is more common when the other party is a so-called influencer – a person that enjoys appreciation of a large number of users due to their reputation. The imaginary closeness is, on the other hand, a very powerful tool in hands of influencers as users often aspire to emulate their lifestyle. However, the lifestyle the influencer presents is not always genuine as the content presented often includes (some form of) promotion. When an influencer shows on their profile that they use a certain product, there is a great […]
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Legal Framework for the so-called influencing To say that there is no special advertising act in Bosnia and Herzegovina (“BiH”) is not completely true. Namely, certain forms of (illegal) advertising are regulated by the Prohibited Advertising Act. This Act regulates the protection of merchants from illicit advertising, the protection of procedures and determines forms of illicit advertising. On the other hand, advertising as such is regulated indirectly at the level of the Federation. In this regard, the Consumer Protection Act is applicable, considering that BiH is one of few European countries that has neither a media act nor an electronic […]
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Influencer marketing is a fast-growing discipline, and the number of influencers is growing every day in our region. Like Serbia, Croatia is also “fertile ground” for influencer marketing and numerous extremely “influential influencers”. Testimonies of many, both “micro” and “macro” influencers from Croatia, demonstrate that this indeed amounts to a full-time job. So, how does one hire an influencer? In a nutshell, after “becoming famous”, influencers receive offers to promote various products and services on a daily basis, but how is this activity legally regulated in Croatia? Stay tuned, as we discuss below in greater detail the legal position of […]
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Who are “influencers”? Developments in technology and the significant influence of social networks on modern life, have resulted in the development of a completely new breed of digital marketers – influencers[1]. Increasingly, successful brands now recognize influencer marketing as an extremely effective way to advertise their business which in turn expands their reach and increasing the sales of products and services. The term influencers originated in the English language, and many other languages, including Serbian, use anglicisms to refer to influencers to denote influential people within a certain group of people. We are familiar with their work today on various […]
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For many years now, watching movies and series has shifted to various internet platforms, while authors are wondering where their copyrights are in all of this. Answers to that question should be provided by the Copyright and Related Rights Act (‟Copyright Act”), which came into operation more than 11 years ago, during a surge in the use of various data exchange platforms. Data is exchanged much faster, and computer technology is far more complex than it was before, and the Copyright Act is lagging behind in its response to emerging challenges regarding new ways of using technology and protecting authors. […]
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On December 3, 2020, the Fourth Chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) rendered a judgement in the case Star Taxi App SRL v Unitatea Administrativ Teritorială Municipiul Bucureşti prin Primar General and Consiliul General al Municipiului Bucureşti providing some extremely interesting conclusions, to say the least. But let us leave the conclusions for later, and first touch upon the factual bits and pieces of the case. The Romanian company SC Star Taxi App SRL is a manager of an application which places users of taxi services directly in touch with taxi drivers all over Romania. […]
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Beyond a shadow of a doubt, the Internet has been a key factor in driving globalization and economic growth in recent years. Along the same lines, leading internet intermediaries have played an essential role in expediting this growth and providing companies of all sizes with the means to capitalize on all the benefits the digital era has to offer. Thus, it is hardly surprising that many Internet intermediaries, such as Amazon, Facebook, and Google, are among the world’s most successful companies. However, there are genuine concerns that their economic prosperity and progress are indirectly being encouraged by legislation that shields […]
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The Necessity of the Digital Single Market… Not only is the global economy flourishing, it is going digital also. Information and communications technology is no longer a specific business sector but the foundation of all modern innovative economic systems. The Internet and digital technologies are transforming the lives we live, the way we work –personally, in business, and in our societies as they increasingly weave their way into all sectors of our economy and community. Consequently, our lives and, especially, our businesses need to follow global trends such as competitive strategies, marketing techniques, and business models, and that would not […]
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Is there another earthshattering change in the tech sector that will be making headlines for the next few weeks? Tech behemoths have certainly kept journalists and bloggers on their toes lately due to many recent dramatic changes and major decisions. WhatsApp, a company owned by Facebook, wanted to go the whole nine yards to become the most successful messaging and calls application, so its executives have quite recently reached a decision to update its privacy policy. As it rolled out the latest updates for Android and iOS, the internet exploded with claims that this encrypted messaging app, whose major selling point […]
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After many years of speculations on its interest in cryptocurrencies, this year PayPal finally announced that it will enable its users to buy and sell cryptocurrencies, as well as to safe keep them in crypto wallets on their accounts. With the money from the sale of cryptocurrencies, users may freely buy goods and services. PayPal, the American company whose main business activity is the provision of payment services related to electronic money, has been long present in the payment services market. PayPal is not a bank, because it does not use the funds of the users for its own needs, […]
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One Belgrade University professor used to say that cinematography is an arranged marriage that marries investors and intellectual creators/artists. We respectfully disagree with that statement – the “marriage” is missing a legal professional. Media law is a broad area that could, in some segments, include almost every branch of law – intellectual property, state aid, competition, company & commercial law, criminal law, human rights law, etc. With this bulletin focusing on filming in Serbia, we are going to cover two of the most relevant issues for the film industry. The first one is creators’ copyrights and producers’ right to economic […]
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Natural persons and companies in Serbia have a large number of disputes, covering all areas of business and legal life, including disputes over intellectual property rights. Resolution of these disputes is usually sought in court, however, there are also alternative solutions. As an alternative dispute resolution mechanism, arbitration could resolve disputes more quickly, in a more efficient way, and at a lower cost, compared to a resolution sought in courts. Prompt resolution of disputes before the arbitration is possible thanks to electronic correspondence, strict deadlines, and the limited number of hearings through which a resolution can be achieved so that […]
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Whenever you leave your home, buy something, apply for a job or pay bills these days – pretty much almost whatever you do – your personal information is used, collected or processed. In order to protect your right to private life regarding the automatic processing of your personal data, the Council of Europe adopted the Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data – ETS No. 108 (“Convention 108”). (No) Need to Modernize the Convention Convention 108 is the first binding international instrument protecting individuals against abuses that may accompany the collection and processing […]
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Programming is the creative process of writing a particular set of characters, which, in a certain sequence, is an instruction for a computer to perform a particular action. In order for the computer to “recognize” the instruction, the programmer must be as detailed and precise as possible when writing the specific instruction. A computer program consists of a set of instructions and, consequently, a large number of instructions need to be written. The oldest computer systems were created in the first half of the last century, which were mechanical or electromechanical in type. In order to introduce a new program […]
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On February 1, 2020, a new Trademarks Act („Act“) came into force with a view to addressing shortcomings observed during the application of the previous act, to establish a more efficient system for trademark protection, as well as to align Serbian legislation with the laws of the EU Member States in this field. Placing trademarked goods and services on the market allows the trademark owner to distinguish those goods and services on the market from others that are the same or similar, while simultaneously increasing its responsibility towards consumers. The importance of trademarks calls for an efficient and simple protection […]
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Is bad stronger than good? It is a fact that people are far more inclined to remember negative criticism or comments, than praise. It takes so many positive events to make amends for just one negative event. The Court of Justice of the European Union issued a Press release on October 3, concerning judgement in the case in which Mme Eva Glawischnig-Piesczek sued Facebook Ireland before the Austrian courts. She requested the removal of the notably harmful comment by a Facebook user which Austrian courts found insulting and defaming. The news immediately hit the headlines! The plain and simple truth […]
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Gecić Law is delighted to have contributed to the Serbian chapter of the TerraLex Cross-Border Copyright Guide 2019! Copyright rules are becoming increasingly important to businesses and decision-makers across the globe, especially as global economies are increasingly becoming digitalized and creative and software industries are expanding continuously. This guide offers a great insight on copyright legislation across national boundaries. The comprehensive guide covers 24 global jurisdictions, which TerraLex has found to play a significant role to global businesses, including the Republic of Serbia! If you would like to read on how to protect your ideas and innovations in different countries, […]
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The German Competition Authority (“Bundeskartellamt”) issued a decision which will have significant impact on both Facebook’s data policy and competition issues in relation to social networks. The decision came after an almost three-year investigation into the practices of this social network. Internal divestiture of Facebook’s data The Bundeskartellamt has imposed far-reaching restrictions on Facebook, concerning its data processing practices. So far, Facebook users have only been able to use the platform if they agreed to the terms and conditions which provide that user data can be collected outside the platform, including from websites and apps owned by Facebook, as well […]
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Bogdan Gecić, managing partner at Gecić Law, a top tier law firm from Belgrade, gave a lecture on the importance of social media and communication at the Law Firm Marketing Summit held in London. “Social media are an important tool to cement presence on the Internet and share the values of your firms with the public”, said Mr. Gecić. “We do not only embrace social media as a medium of promotion of our firm and corporate life within the office, but we also share the successes of our partners and clients because we believe in the idea, as we dubbed […]
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The National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia has adopted amendments and modifications to the Foreign Exchange Operations Act,[1] (“Act”) which entered into force, for the most part, on 28 April 2018.[2] These amendments, amongst other things, intend to ease business dealings for domestic IT companies, reduce restrictions pertaining to credit dealings with foreign countries (which is particularly important to multinational companies), expand possibilities for investing in foreign securities and amplify the supervising role of the National Bank of Serbia (“NBS”). This article aims to clarify some of the said amendments and their effect on the business dealings although we […]
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In the second decade of the 21st century, the Internet network (the “Net”) became easily accessible to almost everyone, as well as the most important source of information. This is because, in addition to the availability of reviews and information collection, the Net has become easily accessible to create and upload different information and content by anyone. As a result, the Net has become the most widely used source of information, through which information from the different spheres could be found in the simplest and the fastest way. However, other than information, certain articles, images, photos, audio, audio-visual recordings and […]
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In the first articles of the series, we wrote about the relations between IT companies and developers, and the rights and relations of IT companies and developers set by the Copyright and Related Rights Act (“Copyright Act”), primarily with respect to commercial utilization of computer programs/software by IT companies and the possibilities of IT companies to carry our changes, adjustments and other adaptations of a computer program/software as a copyrighted work. However, do the mentioned rules apply to designers, and what happens in cases where graphic design contained within digital content is commercial utilized by IT companies, as well as […]
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