Abstract Copyright is designed to not interfere with society's general and overriding interest of effective competition. An effective market competition benefits consumers by lowering prices, raising the quality and expands the range of goods and services. The purpose of the paper is to investigate if the collecting societies licensing violates competition laws. On the basis of the investigation regarding the bill for a new Swedish copyright law (URL), mainly the new wording that regulates the license agreement, corresponds to the EU competition rules and customs within the area. The collecting societies licensing violates the competition laws in the following cases • Discrimination of members because of nationality •           Authors transferring their sole rights to global exploitation •           The collecting society have the right to manage the rights after the author have left as a member •           Users that are established abroad do not get access to the repertoire of  the collecting societies, the same goes for concerted practice if this is the purpose or result •           Parallel behaviours that cannot be explained objectively •           Dividing the market •           Fixed Prices •           Refusal to sign multi-territorial licenses •           Apply different conditions for equivalent transactions resulting in competition disadvantages for a company that cannot be justified by reasonable causes Currently there are no indications that the new bill to a new URL violates EU law. The author of the paper thinks this may change if the collective management extends, so that other member states get the extended license agreements, then the single market is affected by the competition restriction that the new bill to the URL mean. The author of the paper thinks that the bill for a new URL should be changed so that a collective society will not get monopoly to sign licenses with extended license agreements. / Sammanfattning Upphovsrätten är utformad i syfte att inte inkräkta på samhällets generella och överordnade intresse av en effektiv konkurrens. En effektiv marknadskonkurrens gynnar konsumenterna genom att den pressar priserna, höjer kvaliteten och ökar utbudet av varor och tjänster. Syftet med uppsatsen är att utreda om upphovsrättsorganisationernas licensering strider mot konkurrenslagstiftningen. Utifrån den utredningen granskas om lagförslaget till en ny URL, framförallt den nya lydelsen som reglerar avtalslicenser, stämmer överens med EU:s konkurrensregler och praxis på området.  I följande fall strider upphovsrättsorganisations licensering mot konkurrensrätten •           Diskriminering av medlemmarna på grund av nationalitet •           Upphovsmännen överlåter sina rättigheter med ensamrätt för en global exploatering •           Upphovsrättsorganisationen har rätt att förvalta rättigheterna efter att upphovsmannen utträtt som medlem •           Användare som är etablerade utomlands får inte tillgång till upphovsrättsorganisationens repertoar, gäller även samordnade förfaranden om detta är syftet eller resultatet •           Parallella beteenden som inte kan förklaras objektivt •           Uppdelning av marknaden •           Prissamarbeten •           Vägra teckna multi-territoriella licenser •           Tillämpa olika villkor för likvärdiga transaktioner med följden att ena bolaget får en konkurrensnackdel som inte går att rättfärdiga genom sakliga skäl I nuläget finns inget som tyder på att det nya lagförslaget till en ny URL strider mot EU-rätten. Enligt uppsatsförfattarens åsikt kan detta ändras om den kollektiva förvaltningen utökas så att den får avtalslicensverkan även i andra medlemsländer varpå den inre marknaden påverkas av den konkurrensbegränsning som det nya lagförslaget till en ny URL innebär. Uppsatsförfattaren anser att lagförslaget till en ny URL bör ändras så att inte en upphovsrättsorganisation ges monopol att teckna licens med avtalslicensverkan.

No description available.

Purpose – The purpose of the study is to identify a distribution center's deficiencies in the warehouse layout and article placement to enable streamlining in the order picking process.  In order to enable a response to the purpose, the following three questions have been formulated: 1. What problems may occur in the warehouse layout of a distribution center that affects the effectiveness of the order picking process? 2. What problems may occur in the article placement at a distribution center that affects the effectiveness of the order picking process? 3. What improvements can be made to the warehouse layout and article placement at a distribution center to streamline the order picking process? Method – In order to define the problem area, a pilot study was conducted at a distribution center, which formed the purpose and questions of the study. To enable its answer, a case study and literature review has been conducted as methods. The case study consisted of observations, surveys, document studies and benchmarking to generate empirical data to the study. Literature review has been designed to create a theoretical framework around warehouse layout and article placement effect on the order picking process. The data collected has then been analyzed and discussed to enable improvement proposals. Findings – Several problems have been identified in the warehouse layout and article placement that directly impact the order picking process. In order to prevent and change these problems, understanding the complexity of warehouse building is required. It is important to have a clear strategy for which articles that are considered most important to the company. A recommendation may be to place the most high-frequency products in connection with the packing station. Once the strategy is determined, the storage systems can be dimensioned and the route method set. When all these processes interact with each other, a more efficient order pick will occur, which will allow companies to reduce costly waste. Implications – The authors have founded the study within a problem area where there already exist a lot of theories. Therefore the implication of the study consisted of highlighting a new point of view of the already existing theory of warehouse layout, article placement and order picking. The new point of view, therefore, can assist businesses to get a better discussion and understanding of how their warehouse layout and article placement should be designed, which may allow the study to affect the development of other companies. Limitations – The limitations of the study consist of studying only one business as well as some lack of information. Should more businesses and respondents be presented within the study, more deficiencies could have been identified and the results had become more credible and generalizable. Some missing information has also affected the study. Within improvement measures, there was no access to some article information required in the ABC-analysis. Furthermore, poles were discovered in the warehouse layout that affected the formation of the improved warehouse layouts. The lack of information may therefore have affected the final result.

S’intéresser au nom, objet d’étude interdisciplinaire, peut faire figure de lieu commun, à plus forte raison dans le domaine grammatical. Nous partons néanmoins de l’hypothèse que les travaux des théoriciens des XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles, qui oscillent entre une étude du français calquée sur celle du latin et une volonté d’émancipation, présentent un intérêt certain. Trois problématiques se dégagent du corpus. La première concerne le traitement général des parties d’oraison, héritage gréco-latin auquel les grammairiens ont dû s’accommoder, en se confrontant à des difficultés de recensement et de définitions. Il s’agit de savoir comment est justifiée la subdivision nom substantif / nom adjectif chez la quasi totalité des auteurs et quel lien particulier le premier entretient avec le verbe dans l’énoncé. Le deuxième faisceau de questions, qui porte sur les classements à la fois morphologiques et sémantico-syntaxiques du nom, incite à s’interroger entre autres sur la théorisation des accidents du genre et du nombre. Mais c’est surtout le paradoxe du nom abstrait, nom substantif au référent dénué de « substance », qui concentre l’essentiel des débats. Le dernier volet s’intéresse à la détermination par l’article, occurrence en mal de légitimité, qui regroupe à elle seule trois difficultés théoriques. Il convient de se demander quel est le statut de l’occurrence, au sein des parties d’oraison (classe autonome ? Catégorie de l’adjectif ou du pronom ?). Quel est son rôle vis-à-vis du nom et qu’entend-on par article défini, indéfini et partitif ? Enfin, en quoi le traitement de l’article débouche-t-il au XVIIIe siècle sur une réflexion générale de la détermination ? / Studying the noun, the subject of interdisciplinary study, may seem commonplace, especially in the grammatical sphere. Nevertheless, we will start from the assumption that the work of 17th and 18th-century theorists, who vacillated between a study of French based on that of Latin, and a desire for emancipation, is of definite interest. Three problems stand out in this body of work.The first concerns the general treatment of the parts of speech, a Greco-Roman heritage to which grammarians were forced to adapt, dealing with difficulties of collection and definitions. We seek to understand how the substantive noun / adjective noun subdivision is justified by almost all authors and what particular link the first has with the verb in speech. The second type of question, which addresses both morphological and semantic-syntactic classifications of the noun, leads us to wonder, among other things, about the theorisation of accidents of gender and number. However, it is above all the paradox of the abstract noun, a substantive noun that refers to something without “substance”, which will be the focus of most of our discussion.The last aspect looks at determination by the article, an occurrence lacking legitimacy, which alone raises three theoretical difficulties. We ask ourselves what the occurrence’s status is in the parts of speech (autonomous class? Adjective or pronoun category?). What is its role with respect to the noun and what do we mean by definite, indefinite and partitive article? Last, how did the treatment of the article lead to a general discussion of determination in the 18th century?

La notion fiscale d’abus de droit est un sujet d’une grande actualité qui intéresse tous les acteurs de la vie des affaires. On parle de plus en plus dans nos médias, dans nos facultés, dans nos entreprises, comme dans nos foyers des termes d’optimisation fiscale, d’évasion fiscale, de fraude fiscale et d’abus de droit. De plus, l’actualité est marquée par la lutte contre les pratiques fiscales abusives des contribuables qui s’est opérée à divers échelons. Au niveau international avec l'initiative de l'OCDE et du G20 contre l'érosion de la base taxable et le transfert de bénéfices dit BEPS, au plan communautaire, avec l'action du législateur européen, de la Cour de justice de l'Union européenne et de la Commission européenne, et à l’échelon interne par les travaux du parlement. En droit interne, l’article 100 du projet de loi de finances pour 2014 prévoyait que l’adverbe « exclusivement », qui représente l’un des critères caractéristiques de l’abus de droit par fraude à la loi, soit remplacé par l’adverbe « principalement » fiscal dans l’article L. 64 du Livre des procédures fiscales. Le Conseil constitutionnel a censuré cette tentative du législateur dans une décision en date du 29 décembre 2013. Cette décision de censure pourrait être interprétée comme demandant au législateur de définir avec une plus grande précision le motif « principalement » fiscal, mais de manière générale de définir la notion même d’abus de droit. Rappelons que l’article L. 64 du LPF siège de la notion française d’abus de droit, ne définit pas l’abus de droit stricto-sensu, mais plutôt la procédure d’abus de droit. Il ne nous dit pas "qu'est ce que l'abus de droit", mais plutôt "comment l'abus de droit". Si les implications constitutionnelles ont été rapidement connues, les soubassements théoriques méritent d’être approfondis, notamment dans une approche comparative, et le cas échéant européenne et internationale de la question. Il s’est donc agit de mettre en lumière la notion fiscale d’abus de droit, à savoir son caractère saisissable ou non. Cette démonstration conduit nécessairement à répondre à plusieurs interrogations. Notamment, existe-t-il une notion unique et unanimement admise d'abus de droit ? En quoi la notion d’abus de droit est-elle insaisissable? La notion d’abus de droit se doit-elle d’être insaisissable? S’obliger à trouver une notion commune d’abus de droit, n’est-ce pas remettre en cause la logique intrinsèque de l’institution et lui retirer toute efficacité ? Faut-il privilégier une approche commune aux Etats-Membres de l’UE ? Une approche internationale de la question est-elle réalisable ? Quid de l’articulation des dispositifs anti-abus entre eux. C’est entre autre ces différentes interrogations qui ont été évoquées dans les développements de la thèse. / The fiscal notion of law abuse is a high profil topic which interests all business life actors. We hear more and more in our Medias, schools, businesses, as in our homes, such terms as tax optimization, tax evasion, tax fraud and abuse of law. In addition, news is marked by the fight against abusive tax practices of taxpayers that has taken place at various levels. Internationally, with the initiative of the OECD and G20 in the BEPS project. At EU level, with the measures taken by the European Commission and, at national level, by the work of parliament.In national law, recently, the article 100 of the Finance Bill for 2014, as passed by the Parliament, provided that the word "exclusively" which represents one of the characteristic criteria of abuse of law by legal fraud, be replaced with the word "primarily" tax in the article L. 64 of Tax Procedure Handbook.The Constitutional Council censured this legislative attempt in a decision dated December 29, 2013 on two grounds: It held that that article was against the objective of a constitutional value of accessibility and intelligibility of the law, and the principle of legality of offenses and penalties.This censorship decision is a decision which could be interpreted as asking to the Legislator to define with greater precision what it meant by "primarily" fiscal motive, but also generally define the concept of abuse of law in tax matters.It should be recalled in this regard that article L. 64 of the Tax Procedure Handbook, heart of the French concept of abuse of law, does not define abuse of law in the strict sense, but rather the abuse of law procedure. If the constitutional implications were quickly known, the theoretical foundations merit further examination, including a comparative approach, and if applicable European and international questions.It is therefore to clarify the tax concept of abuse of law, defining the abuse of law, namely its comprehensible aspect or not. It is the choice of that last idea that we made, namely to demonstrate the elusiveness of a notion of abuse of law.This demonstration leads necessarily to answer several questions. In particular, does a unique unanimously accepted concept exist? To what extend the notion of abuse of law cannot be found? Should the concept of abuse of law be elusive? If forced to find a common concept of abuse of law, isn’t it a challenge the institution’s logic and a withdraw of its efficiently? Should priority be given to a common approach of abuse of law definition by the European Union Member-States? What about the articulation of anti-abuse devices between them. It is among others the questions that have been raised in the developments.

This thesis examines gender verifications issues in track and field from a feminist and antiracist perspective. In 2019 the international governing body for the sport of athletics (World Athletics) introduced limits on blood testosterone levels for women with some types of Differences in sex development (DSD) in races from 400 metres to 1 mile. According the eligibility rules Caster Semenya and other athletes with heightened testosterone levels need to lower their testosterone levels in order to be eligible to compete in middle distance running races in the women’s class. This thesis discuss the relationship between gender verifications in athletics and the protection of athletes right to privacy according to article 8 ECHR and prohibition of gender and race discrimination according to article 14 ECHR. The balance between the interests for fair competition in sports and the protection of athletes human rights is an ongoing discussion. Complex relationship between states accountability and international non-governmental sports organizations can put athletes in a vulnerable position.  This paper includes three research questions. Firstly, can the state parties to the ECHR be accountable if the eligibility rules infringe human rights? Secondly, is the eligibility rules in compliance with the right to respect for private and family life according to article 8 ECHR? Thirdly, is the eligibility rules in compliance with prohibition of discrimination on the grounds of sex and race according to article 14 ECHR.

No description available.

The European Union (EU) is based on the inclusive core values ​​of democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights enshrined in article 2 of the Treaty of the European Union. If there is a risk that these values ​​are systematically threatened within a member state or when breaches are a fact, the EU may act by applying legal and political mechanisms. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the problem with EU member states abandoning the democratic principles in favor of the illiberal, as exemplified by a case study on Hungary whose constitution and national identity are based on exclusionary values, which consequently has implications for human rights. The main focus of the thesis is the article 7 procedure which has a sanctioning mechanism that may result in the member state concerned being wholly or partly deprived of its voting rights in the Council of the European Union. Article 7 has been criticized for being ineffective and too political. In September 2018, the European Parliament adopted a resolution which activated the preventive mechanism of the procedure against Hungary which is about deciding whether there is a risk of breaches of article 2. The main ambition of the study is to discuss to what extent article 7 can protect the EU's core values. For these purposes, a jurisprudence method that examines EU law has been applied and, through a political science approach, the application of article 7 against Hungary has been investigated. In order to gain a deeper understanding of the procedure, a field study trip was made to the European Parliament in Brussels, where interviews were conducted with people with insight into the work of Parliament and the Council. I was also given the opportunity to attend a meeting of the Committee of Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs of the European Parliament, in which representatives of the European Commission and the European Union Council also participated. The theme for the discussion was the article 7 procedure against Hungary. The findings of the survey show that, due to the political nature, article 7 is not sufficiently capable of protecting the fundamental values ​​of the EU. What is needed is a new independent mechanism to review all member states' compliance with democracy, the rule of law and human rights.

L’imagerie par résonance magnétique (IRM) est l’une des techniques les plus utilisées en neurosciences. Malheureusement, elle implique une exposition à des niveaux de bruit importants. Cette exposition peut entraîner des effets temporaires ou permanents sur l’audition, surtout lorsqu’elle est prolongée ou répétée. Plusieurs inconnus subsistent au sujet des risques pour l’audition de sujets subissant des examens en IRM à répétition. L’objectif de ce projet était de suivre six participants de recherche subissant des examens IRM hebdomadaires et d’évaluer sur une base régulière l’évolution de leur audition. L’audition des participants a été testée périodiquement sur une période d’un an et demi. Des valeurs de référence ont été récoltées pour chacun des tests avant le début de ce projet. Des séances de tests auditifs ont ensuite été planifiées immédiatement avant et après un scan ainsi qu’à la suite d’un délai variant entre deux et sept jours après un scan. Un article scientifique présentant les résultats les plus importants de ce projet a été rédigé. Il comporte les résultats à deux des tests administrés aux participants: l’audiométrie par tons purs et les émissions otoacoustiques par produit de distorsion. Aucun effet de l’exposition au bruit du scanneur n’a été révélé par ces tests. / Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is one of the most commonly used tools in neuroscience. However, it implies exposure to high noise levels. It is well known that exposure to noise can lead to temporary or permanent hearing damages, especially when the exposure is long or repeated. Little is known about the hearing risks of people undergoing several MRI examinations, especially in the context of prolonged longitudinal studies. The goal of this research project was to follow six research participants undergoing weekly MRI scan sessions and test the evolution of their auditory health on a regular basis. The participants’ hearing was tested periodically, over a period of a year-and-a-half. First, baseline values were acquired for each of the hearing tests before the beginning of this research project. Hearing tests were then scheduled immediately before/after a scan and with a delay between two and seven days after a scan. A scientific publication was written outlying the main results regarding two of the administered tests: pure-tone audiometry and distortion product otoacoustic emissions. No consistent impacts of the scanner noise exposure were found for those two tests.

Base erosion in the form of profit shifting has become an increasing concern internationally as well as in South Africa. A significant type of base erosion in South Africa is in the form of excessive interest deductions where income is effectively shifted to a no-tax or low-tax jurisdiction. One of the key developments affecting the South African tax laws was the introduction of provisions that target base erosion and profit shifting. Included in these provisions is section 23M, which limits the deduction of interest paid to persons in whose hands the interest received is not subject to tax in South Africa. It was, however, identified that section 23M may target the same interest risks that the new section 31 thin capitalisation provisions address. Section 23M was said to be the enactment of thin capitalisation. Although one of the purposes of tax treaties is to encourage international trade and investment, there is also discriminatory taxation, which runs counter to that purpose and therefore the prevention of such discrimination is important when dealing with tax treaties. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) Model Tax Convention contains a handful of special criteria in article 24, which must not lead to different or less favourable treatment with regard to taxation. It was found that the non-discrimination article, in particular articles 24(4) and 24(5), may prevent the application of a thin capitalisation regime if the provisions are in contrast with the OECD non-discrimination provisions. Article 24(4) and article 24(5), however, contain an exception that the non-discrimination provisions would not be applicable provided that the thin capitalisation regimes are compatible with the arm’s length principles of article 9. If section 23M was therefore found to be an arm’s length transaction, the article 24(4) and (5) non-discrimination provisions would without further consideration, not be applicable. It was, however, found that section 23M does not consider the factors that should be considered when an arm’s length transaction is applicable, but merely applies the same formula to each company regardless of the size of the company or the industry sector. As a result of this, it appears as if section 23M is arbitrary in nature and therefore would not represent an arm’s length transaction. The exception would not be applicable and would therefore increase the potential non-compliance with the non-discrimination provision. The objective of this study was to determine whether any aspect of section 23M would be contrary to the OECD guidelines relevant to thin capitalisation and in particular the non-discrimination provisions. It was, however, found that although it appears as if section 23M’s primary focus is on cross-border transactions, the provisions do not directly discriminate on the basis of residence. As a result of the discrimination being indirect discrimination and the fact that the cause of section 23M being applicable is not foreign ownership, but rather due to the creditor not being subject to tax, it was concluded that the OECD non-discrimination provisions would not be applicable to section 23M. / MCom (South African and International Tax), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015