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By Bloomberg

The European Union is considering proposals to rein in the world’s biggest Internet companies in a regulatory clampdown that will, among a range of topics, affect copyright and licensing law in the 28-nation bloc.

The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, will propose the rules on Wednesday.

The Brussels-based commission will look at rules that reduce the differences between national copyright laws, making it easier for e-books, movies and TV shows to travel across countries. Less than 4 percent of video-on-demand is available across borders, according to the document.

By the end of the year, the commission said, it will propose legislation to make digital content portable across Europe and give customers access outside of their countries. That would make it easier for a user to download a movie in the U.K. and watch it in Spain, for example.

The EU will also change the way it pursues copyright infringement, “focusing on commercial-scale infringements” and the application of laws across borders, the commission said.

The proposals will also tackle obstacles to cross-border sales, echoing similar efforts elsewhere in the EU.

U.S. studios like Time Warner Inc.’s Warner Brothers and 21st Century Fox Inc. are being examined by the EU over TV licensing deals that limit who can have access to content. Online services such as Netflix Inc. must usually get separate licenses for music and films for every country in which they operate.

The pan-European Internet doesn’t work without the network. The EU will also suggest ways that make it easier for carriers such as Vodafone Group Plc and Orange SA to provide Internet access to more of the population. The plans will focus on making rules around spectrum, the airwave licenses that carriers bid on to carry signals, more uniform, according to the draft document.

Commission spokeswoman Mina Andreeva said an aim of the proposals is to “create a level playing field for digital networks.” She declined to elaborate on details, saying discussions are continuing.

Patents

Bristol-Myers Rejected by U.S. High Court on Baraclude Patent

The U.S. Supreme Court refused Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.’s bid to its revive patent on entecavir, the active ingredient Baraclude, the company’s treatment for hepatitis B.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., the maker of generic drugs, began selling a generic version Sept. 4 after winning a ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for Federal Circuit in June.

Hepatitis B is a viral infection of the liver, which can become chronic and increase the risk of liver failure, liver cancer or cirrhosis of the liver, according to the Mayo Clinic website.

The case is Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. v. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., 14-886, U.S. Supreme Court.

Copyright

Twitter’s Periscope Disabled Dozens of Mayweather Fight Streams

Twitter Inc. said its Periscope streaming business scrambled Saturday night to take down unauthorized live feeds of the championship boxing match between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.

“We were able to respond to takedown requests within minutes,” Twitter said Monday in a statement.

The year’s biggest fight cost $100 to see live on pay-per- view from Time Warner Inc.’s HBO and CBS Corp.’s Showtime. Some fans used phones to capture the video and stream it to Periscope and a competing service, Meerkat.

Periscope was trying to stop the streams, according to Twitter. It received 66 reports from the rights holders, and took action on 30, according to a statement. The others either had ended already or weren’t available.

“Our content policy expressly prohibits streaming content that is protected by copyright. This kind of use constitutes a clear violation,” San Francisco-based Twitter said. “We are working to ensure that there are robust tools in place that allow us to react expeditiously.”

While Saturday’s streams are unlikely to dent the millions made by HBO and Showtime, the event signals a potential problem if more people use live-streaming apps to watch pay TV.

“Members of the Periscope team were on staff Saturday night working to disable streams of the fight,” Twitter said Monday in a statement.

In posts on Sunday, Twitter investor Chris Sacca lauded the use of Periscope for behind-the-scenes footage by Showtime, HBO and Yahoo Sports, and said Periscope shut down “countless” streams.

Universal City Studios LLC Settles Video Royalties Suit

Universal City Studios LLC reached a proposed settlement in a lawsuit over royalties for home videos filed by the company that produced “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas,” the Hollywood Reporter said.

The late Colin Higgins wrote and directed the film.

His company, Colin Higgins Productions Ltd., the lead plaintiff in the class action, sought profits under a participation deal for distribution of home videos of the movie, released in 1982, court records showed.

The proposed $26 million settlement would compensate a class of plaintiffs who claim they have been damaged because they received only 20 percent of the money made by their films’ home videos, according to the complaint filed in state court in Los Angeles.

Other studios face similar suits over home-video royalties, including 20th Century Fox and Sony Corp., the newspaper reported.

In the early days of home video, independent producers were paid to distribute the tapes and studios paid profit participants based upon a 20 percent royalty to the studio by the distributor.

When studios took over video distribution, they “continued the practice of reporting only 20 percent of actual receipts to profit participants,” when it should have shown all of the actual revenue from their own video distribution, according to court papers.

The settlement will apply only to older titles and releases and carves out an exception for current participation agreements that specify the amount of revenue participation, according to the newspaper.