Mrs. Mireille van Eechoud is associate professor, and teaches in IViR's Information Law master programme. She is currently based in the United Kingdom where she is a visiting scholar at the Faculty of Law of the University of Cambridge.

A substantial part of her research focuses on international and European intellectual property law, especially copyright, related rights and database protection. Her most recent book in this field, co-authored with Hugenholtz et al. is Harmonizing European Copyright Law. The Challengens of Better Law Making (Kluwer Law International 2009). Another major area of research is freedom of information law, in particular issues surrounding access to and exploitation of public sector information.

Ever since her doctoral thesis Choice of law in copyright and related rights, Alternatives to the lex protectionis (Kluwer Law International 2003), the private international law aspects of information law have been another recurrent theme in her work. Van Eechoud is a member of the European Max-Planck Group for Conflict of Laws in Intellectual Property (CLIP). This international group of scholars develops principles and aims to provide independent advice to European and national law-makers.

Van Eechoud is project leader of a multidisciplinary research project on creativity and collaborative authorship in copyright law (2010-2012). It is a collaborative research project funded by ESF/HERA, in which IViR partners with Infomedia (University of Bergen, Norway) and the Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Law (University of Cambridge, United Kingdom).

Other current research includes the relationship between fundamental rights aspects of access to public sector information in relation to intellectual property rights and commercial use of government information.

13.10.2009

(with B. van der Wal) Creative commons licensing for public sector information: Opportunities and pitfalls, Institute for Information Law, 2007.

The Creative Commons model seems an attractice instrument for public sector bodies that seek to enhance transparent access to their information, be it for purposes of democratic accountability or re-use for economic or other uses. This study examined that hypothesis and highlights the major opportunities and pitfalls of the Creative Commons model for public sector information. It assesses where there is a match between the creative commons model and the principles of freedom of information law and the Public Sector Information Directive (EC Directive 2003/98 on the re-use of public sector information) as implemented in the new chapter V-A of the Dutch Freedom of Information Act (Wet Openbaarheid van Bestuur). The assessment was made not only at the more principled, abstract level, but also at the level of the individual licensing terms. It is preceded by an analysis of government information as subject of intellectual property rights, under the Dutch Copyright Act and the Database Act.

21.12.2007

CLIP Comments on the European Commission's Proposal for a Regulation on the Law Applicable to Contractual Obligations ("Rome I") of December 15, 2005 and the European Parliament Committee on Legal Affairs' Draft Report on the Proposal of August 22, 2006.

The European Max-Planck Group for Conflict of Laws in Intellectual Property (CLIP) analyses in these comments the effects on intellectual property contracts of the proposed Rome I regulation on the law applicable to contractual obligations. CLIP argues that the European legislator should not introduce a rule on the law applicable tot contracts relating to intellectual property rights in Art. 4 of the future Rome I-Regulation, or introduce at least a more flexible one.

19.04.2007

CLIP Suggestions for amendment of the Brussels I regulation with respect to Exclusive jurisdiction and cross border intellectual property (patent) infringement.

In consequence of ECJ judgments C-4/03 - GAT v. LuK and C-539/03 - Roche Nederland v. Primus, handed down on 13 July 2005, it appears no longer feasible for a national court to allow for consolidation of claims against a person infringing parallel intellectual property rights registered in different Member States, and/or to accept a joinder of claims against multiple defendants engaged in concerted actions. It is feared that this will entail considerable impediments for an efficient enforcement of intellectual property rights, in particular of patents. In these comments, the European Max-Planck Group for Conflict of Laws in Intellectual Property (CLIP) suggests the adverse affects of the ECJ's rulings should be cured. This can be done by revising the drafting of article 22(4) and article 6 of the Brussels Regulation on Jurisdiction and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters (44/2001).

19.04.2007

L. Guibault, G. Westkamp, T. Rieber-Mohn, P.B. Hugenholtz, et al.), Study on the Implementation and Effect in Member States' laws of Directive 2001/29/EC on the Harmonisation of Certain Aspects of Copyright and Related Rights in the Information Society, report to the European Commission, DG Internal Market, February 2007.

• See also Part II: The Implementation of Directive 2001/29/EC in the Member States, G. Westkamp, Queen Mary Intellectual Property Research Institute, February 2007.
• See also the executive summary.

This study, commissioned by the European Commission, examines the application of Directive 2001/29/EC in the light of the development of the digital market. Its purpose is to consider how Member States have implemented the Directive into national law and to assist the Commission in evaluating whether the Directive, as currently formulated, remains the appropriate response to the continuing challenges faced by the stakeholders concerned, such as rights holders, commercial users, consumers, educational and scientific users. As set out in specifications of the study set out by the Commission, its aim is "to assess the role that the Directive has played in fostering the digital market for goods and services in the four years since its adoption". The impact of the Directive on the development of digital (chiefly online) business models, therefore, will be the focal point of our enquiry throughout this study.

22.03.2007

(with P.B. Hugenholtz, S.J. van Gompel et al.) The Recasting of Copyright & Related Rights for the Knowledge Economy, report to the European Commission, DG Internal Market, November 2006, 308 p.
See also the executive summary.

Study carried out by the Institute for Information Law for the European Commission (DG Internal Market). Chapters 1 and 2 describe and examine the existing 'acquis communautaire' in the field of copyright and related (neighbouring) rights, with special focus on inconsistencies and unclarities. Chapters 3-6 deal with distinct issues that were identified a priori by the European Commission as meriting special attention: possible extension of the term of protection of phonograms (Chapter 3), possible alignment of the term of protection of co-written musical works (Chapter 4), the problems connected to multiple copyright ownership, including the issue of 'orphan works' (Chapter 5), and copyright awareness among consumers (Chapter 6). Chapter 7 provides an overall assessment of the benefits and drawbacks of the fifteen years of harmonisation of copyright and related rights in the EU and dwells on regulatory alternatives.

10.01.2007

Commercialization of public sector information. Delineating  the issues, in: L. Guibault & P.B. Hugenholtz (eds.), The Future of the Public Domain - Identifying the Commons in Information Law, Information Law Series 16, The Hague: Kluwer Law International 2006.

13.11.2007

The position of broadcasters and other media under "Rome II": Proposed regulation on the law applicable to non-contractual obligations, IRIS plus (Supplement to IRIS - Legal observations of the European Audiovisual Observatory), 2006-10.

There is also a German and French translation of this article.

The EU are in the advanced stages of legislating conflict of laws rules for torts, with the adoption by the Council of a common position on the proposed Rome II regulation on the law applicable to non-contractual obligations. In this contribution, a critical look is taken at this private international law instrument and its impact on the broadcasting and media industries. The legislative background and objectives of Rome II are set out, followed by an introduction to its general rules. Special attention is paid to questions of intellectual property, unfair competition and violations of interests in personality (including defamation). 

23.11.2006

‘Alternatives to the Lex Protectionis as the Choice-of-Law Rule for Initial Ownership of Copyright’, in: J. Drexl & A. Kur (eds.), Intellectual Property and Private International Law, IIC Studies, vol. 24, Oxford: Hart Publishing 2005, p. 289-307.

Conventional wisdom in international copyright doctrine has it that the law of the country for whose territory protection is claimed governs copyright issues - whether it concerns existence, scope, duration, ownership, transfer or infringement. The Berne Convention of 1886 and other international copyright treaties do not lay down the lex protectionis as conflict rule, contrary to what is often assumed. This paper addresses the drawbacks of the lex protectionis for the initial ownership issue. It assesses alternative conflict rules that can increase legal certainty, while giving due respect to the diversity in national allocation regimes. There is a case to be made for the development of creator-oriented conflict rules for initial ownership issues, particularly if they also serve legal certainty by identifying a single governing law. Such rules may be construed using the main allocation principles of modern European private international law theory.

Published 04.05.2005

Noot bij Hof Den Haag 21 december 2000 (De Telegraaf / NVM) (sequel to NVM-case below), published in Mediaforum 2001-3, nr. 11.

Published 26.01.2001

Noot bij Pres. Rb. Den Haag 12 september 2000 (NVM/De Telegraaf), published in Mediaforum 2000-11/12, nr. 76.

Dutch legal comment on the ruling of District Court The Hague of October 10, 2000 in the case of NVM v. De Telegraaf, on database protection for data on the housing market. Injunction against operator of search engine.

‘EG-verordening inzake rechtsmacht in burgerlijke zaken’, published in Computerrecht 2000-2, p. 113-115.

Analysis of draft European Union Regulation on jurisdiction in commercial and civil matters of January 2000 (in Dutch).

Noot bij GvEA EG 6 april 2000 (Kuijer vs. Raad EU), published in Mediaforum 2000-5, nr. 32.

Legal comment (in Dutch) on the ruling of the Court of First Instance of the European Union on public access to documents held by the Council of the European Union (Case T-83/96).

‘Nader tot U - Brussel verordent openbaarheid EU-documenten’, published in Mediaforum 2000-3, p. 73-79.

Critical review (in Dutch) of the proposal for a Regulation on public access to documents of the European Union of January 2000 (eq. government in the sunshine legislation, freedom of information act).

‘De schadekant van het gelijk’, published in Mediaforum 1999-13, p. 341-342.

Contribution to the special Mediaforum issue 1999-13 in honour of Prof. Schuijt, on the development of emotional damages awarded in cases of defamation and other wrongful publications (in Dutch).

Noot bij Pres. Rb. Dordrecht 8 september 1998 (KPN / Kapitol), published in AMI/Informatierecht 1999-1, p. 10-12.

Legal Comment (in Dutch) on the ruling of the District Court of Dordrecht (The Netherlands) in the case of KPN (major telecommunications company) v. Kapitol, a Belgium firm that allegedly ripped KPN’s cd-rom with telephone-subscriber information and put it on its website.

Noot bij Gerecht van Eerste Aanleg EG 17 juni 1998, zaak T-174/95, Zweedse Journalistenbond vs. Raad van de Europese Unie, published in Mediaforum 1998-9, nr. 41.

Comment (in Dutch) on case T-174/95 of the European Court of First Instance on public access to public sector information.

Noot bij Gerecht van Eerste Aanleg EG 19 maart 1998, zaak T-83/96 (Van der Wal & Nederland vs. Commissie), published in Mediaforum 1998-6, nr. 30.

Legal comment (in Dutch) on the ruling of the Court of First Instance of the European Union on public access to documents held by the European Commission (case T-83/96).

‘Openbaarheid, exclusiviteit en markt: commercialisering van overheidsinformatie’, published in Mediaforum 1998-6, p. 177-184.

Analysis (in Dutch) on commercial use of government information, esp. issues involving intellectual property law, public access or freedom of information law and competition law.

Updated 29.01.2010