When soccer prodigy Lamine Yamal recently won the World Cup with Spain—at the expense of Lionel Messi—an AI parody immediately surfaced: a reversal of the iconic 2007 photo in which Messi is holding the six-month-old baby...
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Joris Deene
Does a platform lose its liability protection as soon as an algorithm determines who sees what content?
Yes, to a significant extent. In its judgment of June 16, 2026, in the joined cases of WebGroup Czech Republic and Coyote System (C-188/24 and C-190/24), the Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice ruled that a platform that...
Can a satirical magazine publish a fabricated photomontage of you?
A senior Walloon civil servant saw his head superimposed on a half-naked body in the style of *Playboy* in the humor section of *Moustique* magazine. He sought one euro in symbolic damages. The French-speaking court of...
When does packaging look too much like a competitor's?
Two dairy brands sell skyr in similar dark blue packaging featuring a snow-covered mountain landscape. Does that mean one is infringing on the other’s trademark? The president of the French-speaking Commercial Court...
Can you sell a perfume that is “inspired by” a well-known brand?
Offering a cheaper perfume “inspired by” a well-known fragrance may seem like a clever marketing ploy, but it is legally very risky. The presiding judge of the Dutch-language commercial court in...
Can a company send you promotional emails after you make an online purchase?
You buy a ticket online, and right after that, promotional emails start pouring in. Is a company allowed to do that just like that? In a decision dated July 16, 2026 (No. 163/2026), the Dispute Resolution Chamber of the...
Is it permissible for a politician to publicly label an organization ‘far-right’?
Can a politician call an organization ‘far-right’ and ‘close to the Rassemblement National’ during a televised debate, or does doing so constitute a tort that could result in damages? The...
Does a video platform lose its protected status as soon as it signs an advertising deal with a creator?
In principle, a platform like YouTube is not liable for what users upload, as long as its role is limited to merely storing that content. But what if the platform, before entering into a commercial...
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