IP, media and privacy law are constantly moving. Its boundaries are challenged daily. What's allowed and what's not. Herein lies the core of our work. Work that keeps challenging and inspiring us.
On June 19th, the Amsterdam court officially swore in Pascal Steijvers as a lawyer. Pascal has been working as a paralegal at Van Kaam Advocaten since April 2023 and is now continuing his career as a promising lawyer. Under the guidance of his mentor, Jurian van Groenendaal, Pascal will further develop his expertise in intellectual property, privacy, and media law. We are proud!
We are proud to announce that our firm and our founder, Bertil van Kaam, have been recognized in the prestigious Chambers rankings for 2024.
In the Global Guide 2024, Bertil van Kaam is ranked for Intellectual Property: General, with a focus on Trade Mark and Copyright. Additionally, in the Europe Guide 2024, our firm has been ranked in Band 3 for both Intellectual Property: General (specializing in Trade Mark and Copyright) and TMT: Media. As a lawyer, Bertil van Kaam, is even ranked in Band 2.
These accolades highlight their exceptional expertise and dedication to the field, reinforcing our firm's commitment to excellence in intellectual property and media law.
What clients say:
"Bertil is a dedicated lawyer with great passion for his profession and substantive knowledge."
"Bertil van Kaam is a respected name in media law."
Max Pijlman joined Van Kaam Advocaten as an associate on May 20, 2024.
Max gained five years of experience at Pels Rijcken, where he worked in the Innovation, Privacy, and Technology section. He enjoys handling cases related to freedom of expression in the context of the current digital era. Max has extensive experience in litigation before the courts as well as in arbitration.
Max will focus, together with the experienced team at Van Kaam Advocaten, on advisory and litigation practice, particularly in the fields of trademark, design, copyright, and media law.
On Tuesday 22 November Remco Klöters gives a masterclass for Social Influencers and the law. In this masterclass he will discuss all relevant and applicable laws and regulations for social media influencers. Also Bloggers, vloggers ans social media influencers have to deal with the law. What do they need to know when creating and posting a vlog? What are the rules for advertisement and/or posting about receiving gifts or awards from brands? And what if you use pieces of text, images or music from other authors? Remco Klöters will discuss al the legal do's and dont's around this topic.
Trademark law has a long history of high-profile cases. The constantly innovating digital society keeps providing new opportunities. The European agenda was completed with a new task in 2014: intensifying and modernizing the EU Intellectual Property framework. The new EU Trademark Regulation and Trademarks Directive entered into force on 23 March 2016. The new regulations should make the current trademark regulation more effective, efficient and consistent. How much will the new regulation affect the possibility to register sound and scent trademarks?
On July 12 2016 the European Commission adopted the EU-US Privacy Shield, which will replace the earlier Safe Harbour principles. The purpose of this Privacy Shield framework is to guarantee a sufficient level of protection for European citizens' personal data transmitted between the EU and the US.
The British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran is accused of copyright infringement. Songwriters Martin Harrington and Thomas Leonard - who wrote the song 'Amazing' - claim that Sheeran's song 'Photograph' is similar to 'Amazing' (which is sang by Matt Cardle). According to the songwriters, it is abundantly clear that it was copied.
The similarities would include the following:
- identical tunes and an identical rhythm (mainly in the refrain);
- identical lyrics; and:
- a similar style.
How would a Dutch judge assess such a case? Is there any similarity? Moreover, are the described elements copyright protected?
The European Commission is currently working on its Digital Market Strategy. In that context it recently presented its proposal for a new version of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive. It is an update that should respond to the current way in which we interact with audiovisual media.
The current Directive applies to commercial and public broadcasting companies. With the new rules it will also apply to providers of VOD-services and online video platforms. Under the Commission's proposal the rules for broadcasters are more flexible, while it imposes more obligations to online video platforms. The Commission claims that the latter should fall within the scope of the Directive. Below you will find a brief summary of the proposal.
Van Kaam advocaten has been highly recommended by The Legal 500 and Media Law International for the practice areas Media & Entertainment and Intellectual property.
The Greeks, the Romans and even the old Egyptians used satire to criticize pressing issues. The work of Desiderius Erasmus ''Lof der zotheid'' from 1511 shows that The Netherlands has a long tradition using satire. What is the state of affairs in Europe in the year 2016? The German ambassador got summoned in Ankara for a saticial film about Erdogan. Is there any reason for concern?
As of 1 March 2016 mr. Jurian van Groenendaal joined the team of Van Kaam.
For Nederlandsmedianieuws.nl Remco Klöters wrote an article about the fee for using a portrait of former coach Van Gaal. Below you find a short introduction and a link to the full article (in Dutch).
Few events are as lucrative for the middle classs as the World Cup Football. At least if we participate... But not everything is possible. In late January this year, the Amsterdam Court decided an advertising agency should pay a fee of € 25.000,- for using the portrait of Van Gaal. How could the court establish such an amount?
Victory for journalism in the Netherlands. The High Court of The Hague reached an early judgment about the forced disclosure of the complete raw footage by AVROTROS to telecom provider Pretium. The judgment cancels the earlier decision of 2 February 2011 by the District Court of The Hague. In that decision AVROTROS was convicted to disclose the complete raw footage to Pretium with regard to the broadcast of television program Radar in which hidden camera footage from a call center of Pretium was broadcasted. Hereinafter follows an overview of the most important considerations of the High Court.
For Nederlandsmedianieuws.nl Remco Klöters wrote an article about online false reviews. Below you find a short introduction and a link to the full article (in Dutch).
''False, misleading and inauthentic'' Amazon said about the reviews posted by more than a thousand payed reviewers on its website. After addressing websites in April 2015 for offering fake reviews, Amazon is now focussing on the reviewers themselves. They were sued before a court in Seattle last month.
Who is not confronted with friendly and urgent requests to like the Facebook-page of the local bakery, appreciate a call centre after violently ending the call and to give five stars to your grumpy taxi driver. Nowadays, the importance of likes, reviews and ratings is undisputed.
Unfortunately, with the increasing importance the reliability of reviews also diminishes and more and more publications about unreliable, false reviews appear.
The European Court of Justice (''ECJ'') has rendered an important judgment in a case about the transfer and storage of European personal data in the United States. The court ruled that the European Safe Harbour Decision does not provide an adequate level of protection of personal data. Based on this agreement organisations such as Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon and Twitter got permission to store data from Europeans in the U.S. In total there are over 5000 organisations transferring personal data based on these decision.
Background: Schrems vs. Facebook
The ruling is the final judgment in a case between the Austrian student Maximillian Schrems and Facebook. All Facebook subscribers residing in Europe must sign an agreement with Facebook Ireland, an Irish subsidiary of the American Facebook Inc. The data provided by subscribers to Facebook is transferred, in whole or in part, to servers in the U.S., where it is processed. Schrems lodged a complaint with the Irish supervisory authority (the Data Protection Commissioner). According to Schrems the law and practice of the U.S. do not offer sufficient protecion against surveillance by the public authorities of the data transferred to the country. He aims at the revelations by Edward Snowden in 2013 concerning the activities of the U.S. intelligence services and in particular the National Security Agency (''NSA'').
The Irish authority rejected the complaint on the ground that in a decision of the European Commission (''EC'') in 2000 considered that, under the 'safe harbour' scheme, the U.S. ensures an adequate level of protection of the personal data transferred. Scherms brought the case before the High Court of Ireland, that referred the case to the ECJ.
It is official: the song 'Happy Birthday' is not copyright protected. This is the judgment of an American judge on 22 September 2015. Warner/Chappell Music was claiming copyright on the birthday classic. According to calculations Warner/Chappell would annually receive up to 2 million dollar based on copyright of the song.
The discussion about the copyright of Happy Birthday started a while ago by documentary maker Jennifer Nelson. She was producing a film about the song and received an invoice from Warner/Chappell for the use of the song in her film. She was not sure if Warner/Chappell's claim was justified and initiated legal proceedings.
After France, Italy and Turkey The Netherlands are next in line. G+J media launches the 'fashion bible' for men: VOGUE Man. In stores as of Thursday 24 September.
VOGUE Man is a brand-extension of the Dutch edition of the internationally renowned high-fashion magazine VOGUE. The first edition contains amongst others fashion shoots inspired on Dutch style icons from the past, such as Ramses Shaffy and Johan Cruijf. Also included is a double-interview with photographer and director Anton Corbijn and actor Dane DeHaan about Corbijns latest movie 'Life'.
On 1 July 2015 the new copyright contract rules went into force. As mentioned in our latest update the amendments in the Dutch Copyright Act have consequences for makers and publishers of copyright works. The new rules are therefore important for the contract practice of all media sectors. Are your contracts already up-to-date?
The team of Van Kaam advocaten offers you the opportunity for a Contract Check for both existing and new contracts and/or terms and conditions regarding exploitation, licensing and/or publishing of copyright works.
On July 1st 2015 the Dutch Senate adopted the new Copyright Contract Act. The objective of this act is to strengthen the position of authors and performing artists (hereinafter referred to as 'the maker') in relation to the publishers of their works.
The act expands the Dutch Copyright Act 1912 with a new chapter: 'Chapter 1A the exploitation agreement'. The provisions in this chapter only apply to contracts between individual makers and intermediaries exploiting their works. The new rules do not apply to contracts stipulating the use of commissioned works, simple user licenses or other agreements with users/consumers.
The most important amendments in the Copyright Contract Act:
For Nederlandsmedianieuws.nl Remco Klöters wrote an article about the liability of newswebsites for readers' comments. Below you find a short introduction and a link to the full article (in Dutch).
bloody shitheads... (...) sick jew! / go and drown yourself / (...) assholes fck / Lynching, to warn the other [islanders] and would-be men.
This is a selection of offensive, but not quite unusual readers’ comments from the Delfi website (www.delfi.ee), a commercial Estonian newsportal comparable to the Dutch Nu.nl.
Delfi publishes up to 330 articles a day which receive approximately 10.000 (!) readers’ comments daily, the majority posted under pseudonyms.
For Nederlandsmedianieuws.nl Remco Klöters wrote an article about the trademark rights of Roy Donders (Dutch celebrity stylist and reality star). Below you find a short introduction and a link to the full article (in Dutch).
Do you know the latest business model in marketing? Hijack the name of a Dutch celebrity as a trademark and then introduce yourself as the new 'strategic and creative online partner of trademarks'. This strategy was used last year by a marketing agency from Waalwijk (the Netherlands).
For the magazine Mediaforum Bertil van Kaam wrote an article about the new policy of the Dutch Media Authority, called Commissariaat voor de Media (CvdM). Below you find a short introduction and a link to the full article (in Dutch).
'With a straight back' headlines the column by Commissioner De Cock Buning in Broadcast Magazine a few weeks ago. She does not fully understand the resentment that has risen in the media as a result of the recent fines imposed by the CvdM. The Dutch public broadcaster NTR received a fine of € 150.000,- for the children's program Sinterklaasjournaal and another Dutch public broadcaster Omroep Max received a fine of € 162.000,- for the program Heel Holland Bakt. According to De Cock Buning the Dutch Media Act is very clear - she would prefer broadcasters to say 'you are right we accept the penalty and prevent further violations in the future'. But with the new policy of the CvdM the question is whether that is realistic. After all, both decisions show a broad interpretation of the rules of the Dutch Media Act by the CvdM and that it imposes high fines when it decides these rules are violated.
The Dutch Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) actively started enforcing the new cookie provisions legal framework. A number of websites re-installed their cookie wall after receiving a letter from the ACM, according to reports by Geen Stijl and Tweakers.net (Dutch publishing company De Persgroep). It is (not yet) known which other specific websites did also receive a similar notice of the ACM.
Background
In 2012 and 2013 website owners started to use cookie walls to meet the applicable regulations which stipulated that the user must explicitly give its consent for the use of cookies. The walls were removed after a public letter of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs in which it emphasized that it was unnecessary to explicitly request for permission, a simple cookie notification would suffice. Now these same websites act in conflict with the law, according to the ACM.
For Nederlandsmedianieuws.nl Remco Klöters wrote an article about the right to be forgotten. Find a short introduction and a link to the full article (in Dutch) below.
Almost a year since the European Court of Justice ordered Google to guarantee the ‘right to be forgotten’, it is time for an update. I already addressed this matter last year. Is it easy to successfully do such a Google-request? And if it fails, is the Dutch court willing to interfere and uphold the law? On March 31st the Dutch Court of Appeal gave its first judgment in this matter.
From Saturday March, 21st until June, 21st the Gemeentemuseum The Hague is organising a retrospective of photographer and director Anton Corbijn. It is an exhibition on the occasion of his sixtieth birthday.
Hollands Deep shows the highlights of his work. The grainy black and white pictures of musicians in the 1970’ and 80’s play a key role in the exhibition. The aim of this major retrospective is to show Anton Corbijn’s evolution as a self-taught photographer and to reveal the diversity of his subjects. techniques and materials. Photographs of the making of several of his films will also be included in the exhibition.
‘’Blurred Lines’’, the successful pop song of Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke, is a copy of ''Got to Give it up'' by Marvin Gaye from 1977. So reads the verdict of an American jury trial started by the heirs of Marvin Gaye. Williams and Thicke must pay the heirs about $7,3 million in damages. The artists themselves earned about $16,5 million on ''Blurred Lines''. Thicke indicated he didn’t compose any of the chords related to the song. During the proceedings Williams acknowledged he composed the entire song in one night and said the music of Gaye is ''the soundtrack of his youth''.
The jury compared both songs in full detail. It furthermore acknowledged the text and vocal lines of Blurred Lines are completely different compared to those of Got to give it up, but eventually they ruled the beat of both songs fitted seamlessly. The similarity in rhytm was decisive.
The new cookie provisions entered into force with the official publication in the Official State Journal on the 10th of March. The new provisions are designed to solve the ongoing problems and nuisances caused by the previous cookie rules (in force since 2012). Internet users are still redundantly confronted by pop-ups, banners and cookie-walls while their privacy is not or barely at stake.
On Monday afternoon 25 February 2015, the “Foundation Lottery Loss” (Stichting Loterijverlies) tried through summary proceedings before the District Court Midden-Nederland to enforce a preventive ban on the broadcast of the popular consumer television program “Radar”. The foundation recently achieved a victory before the Supreme Court against the State Lottery and urges people who have participated in the lottery between 2000 and 2007 to register with them. Loterijverlies claims that these people could get their deposit money back and/or would be entitled to damages. The foundation feared that in this particular episode of Radar, the activities of the Foundation would be ridiculed and more specific, that its participants would not be entitled to any damages. The District Court however dismissed the claim directly after the hearing.
Recently De Korte Weg, better known under the name De Vegetarische Slager (DVS), successfully acted against an infringement of its trademark and trade name rights. De Vegetarische Slager Amsterdam sold third party meat substitutes aside from the DVS products in its Amsterdam store. The cooperation agreement between parties did not allow for the sale of products not originating from DVS.
Life, the latest movie by Anton Corbijn, premiered earlier this month on the Berlin Filmfestival.
The movie tells the story of the friendship between James Dean (Dane DeHaan) and Dennis Stock (Robert Pattinson), photographer for the magazine 'Life'. The friendship between the two results from the fact Stock oftenly portrayed Dean for the magazine. The story is set in 1955 and is shot in Canada and the V.S.
The Dutch Privacy Regulator (CBP) has published instructions on how to use Google Analytics in a privacy friendly way by following four steps. Analytics is Google’s service that collects website statistics like visitor traffic and page views. In order to generate this data, small text files are stored on the end users computer; the so called analytical cookies.
In July 2014 Nils Winthagen wrote an article for Emerce.nl about copyright and the second-hand e-book market. He wrote the article based on the fact the Dutch Publishers Association (NUV) had started proceedings against Tom Kabinet. In the summary proceedings the court ruled in favour of Tom Kabinet. This judgement is successfully apealed by the NUV. Tom Kabinet cannot provide services for reselling illegal e-books.
The start of the new year has also opened a door to the public domain for works of Mondrian, Kandinsky, Munch and Nussbaum. In Europe works are protected under copyright for the duration of 70 years after the death of the author (post mortem auctoris). In 2014 it was exactly 70 years ago since the aforementioned artists passed away. That is why their copyright has lapsed in the EU on January 1. The works can therefore be freely published.
Every Facebook user has received a message from Facebook that its terms of use will change on 1 January 2015. After this date. everyone who uses Facebook agrees with the changes made . The message led to a counter movement by which users posted messages on their time-line in which they indicated not to agree with the new terms and conditions. The question however is whether there is any merit in such actions. Pursuant to the terms of use Facebook claims you already agreed by using Facebook. What is the hidden agenda of Facebook? Below a brief explanation.
`new´ terms of use already in use
Facebook claims it altered its terms of use, but the actual terms and conditions were already applicable for a while. The terms of use are not new at all. Facebook has only redrafted the conditions and splitted them in different documents. Besides that Facebook is going to collect and exchange even more of our data. Below you will find some of the most important conditions:
For Nederlandsmedianieuws.nl Remco Klöters wrote an article about the right to use your own name. Find a short introduction and a link to the full article (in Dutch) below.
Let’s assume: you are a proud Italian woman named Gabriella Capra. Nothing wrong with that, you would think.
But then the translators of Peppa Pig, a British animation series full of happy farm animals, decided to give the goat in that series your name. Capra translates to goat in Italian and Gabriella Goat became Gabriella Capra. Hard times are ahead for the Italian…
The DVD and album Alive In Berlin will be released on November 17th 2014. Corbijn already worked with the band several times and shot numerous music video's and has photographed them regularly. The film is about the German shows of Depeche Mode and inter alia contains images behind the scenes, interviews and an acoustic session at the oldest hotel in Berlin.
For Emerce.nl Nils Winthagen wrote an article about apps and privacy. Below is a brief introduction and a link to the full article (in Dutch).
Lately there is a lot going on about apps and privacy. Recently, Blink Uitgevers (a publisher) was reprimanded by the Dutch Data Protection Authority (CBP) with regard to their app for children 'Okki Gekke-bekken-club'. The app processed personal data of children which was in conflict with the rules of the Dutch Data Protection Act. Companies and individuals like to experiment with apps and their economic application. The right moment to highlight the privacy rules with regard to apps.
For Nederlandsmedianieuws.nl Remco Klöters wrote an article about copyright and Big Bird. Below is a brief introduction and a link to the full article (in Dutch).
Is there any news about the investigation regarding Pino - the Dutch version of Sesame street’s Big Bird - that was announced after Pino was seen at the Amsterdam dance festival Valtifest?
The Dutch broadcasting organisation NTR was not amused when she was told about Pino being accompanied by scantily dressed dancers and men with whips. NTR would start an investigation, but after this nothing was heard ever since. Since I am a media lawyer I investigated it myself.
In a time where the printed magazine seems to be on its return, G+J Publishers proves this is a wrong assumption. She introduces a new magazine, National Geographic Historia. A spin-off of the well-known magazine National Geographic.
The new magazine focuses on history in the broadest sense and its essence will be 'beautiful illustrated classic history'. CEO Eric Blok mentions that it will be 'just a magazine for people who are interested in history and still actually have the time to read'.
The American fashionlabel 'What about Yves' has integrated the Chanel logo together with the Ghosbuster logo in one of its new T-shirt lines. Chanel initiated proceedings against the clothing label in the U.S.. Chanel claims the new line infringes its copyright and trademark rights vested in the Chanel logo (the two interlocking C's). The public could might think that the design of the T-shirst originates from Chanel, while it has nothing to do with ‘What about Yves’.
Recently Google has introduced a new search tool that allows users to search directly within a website. (see picture) The search tool formerly also displayed search results containing torrent sites like The Pirate Bay, Isohunt.to and Torrentz.eu. Google has now removed the search tool in relation to results displaying the torrent sites. Google did not (yet) explain why the search tool has been removed. The reasons for the removal are therefore not officially known. The torrent sites themselves can still be found through Google.
For Emerce.nl Nils Winthagen wrote an article about copyright and the second-hand e-book market. Below is a brief introduction and a link to the full article (in Dutch).
In 2013 there were 1,95 million e-books sold, which was about 3,2 percent of the overall book sales. This does not seem much, but the e-book marktet is one of the markets that has been badly affected by piracy. The new website Tom Cabinet will make the market for legal e-books more attractive by offering an online marketplace for used e-books. The portal has only just started, but already they received a claim by the Dutch Publishers Association (NUV) due to copyright infringement. Parties were in front of the court on the 10th of July 2014.
For Nederlandsmedianieuws.nl Remco Klöters wrote an article about Google and the right to be forgotten. Below is a brief introduction and a link to the full article (in Dutch).
On May 13, 2014 the European Court of Jusitice ruled a ground-breaking judgement regarding the obligations for search engine operators.
According to the Court, people have the right to 'be forgotten' and should therefore have the possibility to object to publications of incorrect or (no longer) relevant information that is made available to the public by search engines like Google. This was a surprise, since year it seemed that such a right did not exist.
A Most Wanted Man is about a Chechnyan muslim asking for asylum in Hamburg, Germany. Once there, he however is considered being a terrorist.
The earlier this year deceast actor Philip Seymour Hoffman plays the role of an agent of the secret service in charge of the investigation. The thriller is the last title which the actor finished before he suddely died. Corbijn dedicated the movie to Hoffman.
For Nederlandsmedianieuws.nl Remco Klöters wrote an article on the portrait right of Princess Amalia. Below is a brief introduction and a link to the full article.
Do you remember? Last year, Nieuwe Revu was all over the news with an article on the Media Code, show- casing two photos of the six year old hockey-playing Amalia. The Royal Family was not amused - resulting in a procedure. Main question: was this publication allowed? No, said the magistrate. The public doesn't have the right to know anything of Princess Amalia, even though she's the queen to be. She holds a right to privacy, especially now that she's still a minor.
The Swedish 'Spotify for books' is a service with a lot of potential according to Rubinstein.
They are very exited that this service will be available in the Netherlands. The service could even cause a decrease in illegal e-book trade.
A new musical about the key figure of the Dutch public broadcaster VARA will be premiered in november next year.
Janke Dekker Productions anounced this on her website. Seventy years after the birthday of the TV-icon of the 70s and 80s Janke Dekker Productions presents Willem Ruis, De Show Van Zijn Leven.
Lego has no more IP rights, which means that everyone can now use or produce (similar) Lego bricks without any risk.
Nathan Sawaya is a New York-based artist who creates awe-inspiring works of art out of some of the most unlikely things. His recent global museum exhibitions feature large-scale sculptures using only toy building blocks. Lego bricks to be exact.
Until 26 October 2014, more than 70 astounding Lego structures built from in excess of a million LEGO® bricks will dominate the Amsterdam EXPO for their new exhibition ‘The Art of the Brick’ – named by CNN as one of the world’s 10 must-see exhibitions.
For the Dutch Magazine for Internet Law Hanneke van Lith was co-author on an annotation about the judgement of the Court of Justice regarding the obligation to block copyright infringing websites. Below is a short introduction and a link to the full article (in Dutch).
New technologies make it possible to digitally exchange information faster, more often and in bigger quantities. Communication is key! On the other hand these technologies also allow more abuse. This particularly concerns the violation of copyright on the internet, for example through P2P webistes or so-called torrentwebsites. Therefore for a while right holders have been in a constant battle against websites that make their works available to internet users without their permission.