Virtual meeting platforms have seen user numbers increase substantially since the end of 2019. Services such as Microsoft Teams, Skype and Zoom have become an increasingly utilised tool as a large number of businesses have directed employees to work from home during the various COVID-19 lockdowns.

When utilising services such as Skype or Zoom, businesses need to be aware of their terms and conditions, particularly what they say about intellectual property relating to content being presented through the platforms.

Over the years, rights holders have tried several different creative ways to identify and prosecute copyright infringers using the internet. One way of doing that is to compel the potential infringer's internet service provider to produce relevant information through preliminary discovery.

The recent decision of Siemens Industry Software Inc v Telstra Corp Ltd is an example of how copyright owners, especially those whose rights are valuable on a "per copy" basis, can use preliminary discovery to find the missing puzzle piece from ISPs.

HealthEngine, an online booking engine and review platform for medical practises has been hit with a $2.9M fine for sharing the non-clinical personal information of 135,000 patients.

Is your company ready to pivot in the event of a crisis?

In the latest episode of Legal Lockdown, Adriana Giometti speaks with Karina Rodríguez Díaz, Crisis Management Underwriting Manager, Australasia at HDI Global Specialty SE, to discuss how organisations within a wide range of industries have managed to pivot their businesses in order to adapt to changes brought about by the COVID-19 crisis.

At the beginning of May, the Federal Treasurer issued a determination which modifies the operation of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) with respect to company meetings and the execution of documents by companies.

In order to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on Australian companies, the Corporations (Coronavirus Economic Response) Determination (No. 1) 2020 ('the Determination') came into effect on 6 May 2020, and applies on a temporary basis until 6 November 2020.  

In EPISODE 4 of Holman Webb's Legal Lockdown series, Chief Marketing and Client Relations Officer Adriana Giometti is joined by Tal Williams, Corporate and Commercial Partner, to discuss the privacy implications of the Australian Government’s COVIDSafe App.

A wide range of articles and government announcements have been published concerning the status of retail and commercial leases in the wake of the government mandated restrictions on trade and business operations that have come about as a response to the evolving COVID-19 crisis.  

Despite this, many tenants, especially commercial tenants who were not subject to the Retail Leases Act 1994 (NSW), were still uncertain as to what these announcements meant for them.

These uncertainties have now been removed in New South Wales, through the proclamation of the Retail and Other Commercial Leases (COVID-19) Regulation 2020 (NSW), which apply from 24 April 2020 until 24 October 2020.

With financially distressed businesses on the rise, secured parties must ensure that they have registered their security interests on the Personal Property Securities Register within time.  This is crucial in order to avoid losing the security altogether, if the borrower/grantor commences insolvency.

As a result of the current COVID-19 pandemic, many (if not most) employers have directed their employees to work from home.  With this in mind, it is crucial for employers to understand that their overriding obligation to provide employees with a safe workplace has not changed.

In EPISODE 2 of Holman Webb's Legal Lockdown series, Chief Marketing and Corporate Relations Officer Adriana Giometti is joined by Tal Williams, Partner within the firm's Business, Corporate and Commercial team, to discuss a range of issues currently facing both commercial and residential tenants.