The Anti-Piracy and Licence Compliance division of CJCH Solicitors caters for the copyright protection needs of several global clients. The division comprises of two main teams:

1. The Anti-Piracy and Business Intelligence researchers – who perform comprehensive and evaluative research providing the firm with the building blocks that their cases are established on; and
2. The Compliance officers – who (in collaboration with their respective commercial teams) put the cases into action.

These teams are made up of individuals belonging to an impressive 26 different nationalities, all of whom offer linguistic and cultural expertise allowing them to effectively engage with clients, cases, and infringers from over 42 countries around the globe. This level of diversity and multi-nationalism in such a concentrated space is a demonstration of just one aspect of the commitment and sophistication the firms cross-border Anti-Piracy efforts.

Below is an image highlighting a spread of the countries in which CJCH currently operate in including some figures showing the number of cases created in the corresponding countries across the 2017 calendar year.

CJCH’s work ranges across 42 countries worldwide, covering a huge 14.6 million km² of digital aerospace!

As shown above, with such a high numbers of cases it’s not surprising that the teams who deal directly with the infringing companies are experts at knowing what to expect when they are confronting suspected infringers.

In light of this, the Anti-Piracy and Licence Compliance team are often confronted with a range of interesting, if not repetitive, explanations for the infringing behaviours. There are only so many excuses for the same crime and the conviction with which the same lines are delivered time and time again is surprising. Some reoccurring classics include:

“I have done no such thing, neither has anyone else within my company. It must have been a passer-by.”

This after having been presented with evidence of hundreds or even thousands of infringements registered on the property in question.

“We have no use for your software.”

Regardless of their websites and associated job-site platforms explicitly claiming the opposite.

“I’ve never heard of your software.”

In spite of the fact that the individuals involved had been linked to a number of companies, both with the same registered illegal usage of a client’s software.

Since the creation of the Anti-Piracy and Licence Compliance department in November 2014, the range of services provided and the global scale on which CJCH provide these services has grown exponentially, with current plans and predictions only expanding their reach. The firm continues to grow both in size and sphere of influence, with many an exciting development on the horizon.

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Business across Europe and indeed the rest of the world are preparing for the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in readiness for its implementation on 25^th May 2018. It is safe to say that it is producing a feeling of unease for businesses, as many organisations have not been run with data protection as a primary consideration. A survey (of 1000 people reflective of the British Population) based on 2016 Annual Track by the Information Commissioner’s Office found that 79% of people did not trust businesses with their personal information.

Considering these figures, the GDPR is a positive evolution for data protection. The progression focus for companies should be to emphasise data protection from the outset and throughout their processes, learning to enhance their understanding and respect for individuals’ data protection rights. These enhanced rights under the GDPR challenge whether companies are aware of precisely what information has been captured, where it is stored, who it has been shared with and most importantly… can the entirety of this data be safely recalled and accounted for.

The proposed sanctions for non-compliance are high, with maximum fines being 4% of turnover or 20 million Euros, however, the ICO is only likely to issue these fines (proportionally) in certain scenarios. Overall it can be considered to be a positive development if they are encouraging more organisations to consider data protection as part of their DNA. Companies must accept that potential data security breaches are an inevitability, they should focus on data minimisation and have a structure in place to deal with them, rather than assuming the company is immune to those risks.

The United Kingdom is in a seemingly more precarious position than the rest of Europe; with Brexit looming and the difficulties in predicting how the GDPR will be applied once it is in force. The UK has the largest internet economy as a percentage of GDP out of all the G20 countries, so it must prioritise how it can keep European data safe, and encourage the EU to consider it a safe place for data transfers. The UK has recognised this by beginning to draft a new Data Protection Bill which mirrors the GDPR to a large extent. Its relevant authority, the ICO, is taking steps to get us up to speed with the legislation; providing information, blogs, webinars and tools to facilitate this. The National Cyber Security Centre is also publishing regular blogs and guidance, making it a relevant and viable resource for businesses; aiming to make the UK the safest place to live and do business online.
I would direct your attention to the following as a starting point:

An introduction and the twelve steps for preparing for the GDPR: https://ico.org.uk/media/1624219/preparing-for-the-gdpr-12-steps.pdf

A series of blogs from the ICO dealing with any myths surrounding the GDPR: https://iconewsblog.org.uk/tag/gdprmyths/

A Data protection self-assessment toolkit which allows businesses to analyse different areas and highlight what they are and aren’t doing well:
https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/resources-and-support/data-protection-self-assessment-toolkit/

The NCSC guide for Cyber Security for small business (SMEs): https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/blog-post/cyber-security-small-business-guide

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The conference focused on international intellectual property crime and was not only attended by law enforcement agencies, but also interested organisations seeking information and collaboration with global thought leaders on the monitoring and safeguarding of their intellectual property rights. Companies such as HP, Dolby, Pfizer and Levi Strauss were in attendance to discuss the challenges and threats to their industries due to counterfeiters and IP thieves.

The conference was a great success, with our representatives having this to say:

Stephen Rees: “This was a great opportunity to meet with the market leaders in their field, both legal and business, to discuss the issues and strategies for the coming years.  There was an excellent cross-flow of information and many valuable insights were gained.”

Tony Crampton: ‘This conference provides significant opportunities to the global effort in tackling IP Crime. The fact that key partners across Public and Commercial sectors attend, shows the importance of the contribution it makes. The speakers provided insight of intervention and enforcement strategies that are being deployed to protect IP rights around the world and examples where lessons were learnt or best practice identified. The ability to speak informally with Government representatives, Law Enforcement specialists and leading Commercial Brand’s investigators, enable CJCH to further develop its network and maintain confidence in our ability to deliver Client services which are effective and complement the wider initiatives being undertaken.”

For more information on the conference, and updates on future events, please see the event website here http://iipcic.org/conference.php

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