Newsletter January 2008
MEDIA
The Publication of Personal Data on the Internet for
Journalistic Purposes
The Personal Data Protection Act applies to journalistic
publications in which personal data are included, unless a number
of strict requirements have been fulfilled, after which the Act
will still apply in part. The Dutch Data Protection Authority has
explained which criteria apply, but these criteria are not fully
met by far by all journalistic websites.
read more
The Case of Suharto Against Time Magazine Asia
In Indonesia former dictator Suharto has pressed
charges against Time Magazine. Suharto considered an article
devoted to him to be a libelous. The Indonesian Supreme Court has
ordered Time Magazine to pay damages in the amount of 77 million
euro. Kennedy Van der Laan is involved on behalf of several large
international media parties in drafting an "amicus
letter" in the pending review procedure in this case.
read more
ECHR Finds the Netherlands Guilty of Violating the
Journalistic Right of Non-Disclosure (Voskuil)
In 2000 the Amsterdam Court of Appeal, in the
notorious trial against Mink K., ordered the detention of Koen
Voskuil, a journalist of the daily newspaper Sp!ts, in order to
compel him to reveal the identity of his source which he refused.
His detention was lifted after 17 days. After his release Voskuil
lodged an application against the Netherlands with the European
Court of Human Rights (ECHR). The long-anticipated judgment was
pronounced on 22 November 2007. The Court unanimously ruled that
the Netherlands had violated Article 10 (the right to freedom of
expression) and Article 5 (the right to liberty and security) of
the European Convention on Human Rights. The government has now
decided to lay down the journalist's right of non-disclosure in
law.
read more
REAL PROPERTY AND
CONSTRUCTION
Claim to Terminate a Lease of Business
Premises
When terminating a lease, lessors of business premises must comply
with the provisions of Section 7:296 of the Dutch Civil Code
("BW"). If the lessee does not consent to the termination
of the lease, the lessor may claim pursuant to Section 7:295 (2) of
the BW that the Court specify the date at which the lease will end.
The question at the heart of the procedure at issue is whether such
a claim must have been instituted before the time as of which
notice of termination has been given, or whether there is no term
within which the claim for termination must be submitted.
read more
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
OPTA Imposes One Million Euro Fine on Purveyors of
Spyware
At the end of 2006 the Dutch Independent Post and
Telecommunications Authority
(OPTA) announced by means of the document "Visie en Jaarplan
2007" (Vision and Annual Plan 2007) that in 2007 OPTA would
intensify its fight against spyware. OPTA expected that the first
incremental penalty payments and fines would be imposed in 2007.
read more
EMPLOYMENT
Continuation of a Fixed-Term Employment Agreement
Without Opposition?
On 19 October 2007 the Dutch Supreme Court ruled
that if an employee continues to do his work after the expiry of a
fixed-term employment agreement, while there is no consensus on the
conditions of this continuation, the employment agreement is not
renewed automatically for the same period of time.
read more
CORPORATE
The EU Directive on Shareholders' Rights Adopted
In July 2007 the European directive on
shareholders' rights was adopted. The purpose of this directive
is to further the exercise of shareholders' rights by
shareholders in listed companies.
read more
INTELLECTUAL
PROPERTY
Where a Well-Known Trademark Should be Known
The Nieto Nuno case concerns the question of how
known a trademark must be according to geographical standards
before it may be regarded as "well-known" within the
meaning of the Paris Convention/the Trademarks Directive.
read more
Meta Search Engine Gaspedaal.nl Walks Free
After a number of judgments having been rendered on
search engines for houses, such as
Jaap.nl and Zoekallehuizen.nl, the court now pronounced a
judgment on a search engine for cars. Can the search engine
Gaspedaal.nl simply search and partly copy the offer of second-hand
cars from the website Autotrack.nl (and other car sites)?
read more