VOA · What's Trending Today?
Intermediate · B1–B2learner speed2:242018-11-14public domain
What's Trending Today? covers viral stories and social media moments in short, punchy reports. The episodes are brief and topical — perfect for a quick daily dictation session.
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01This is what's trending today.
02The European Union's highest court has dismissed an attempt by a Dutch cheesemaker to copyright its cream cheese.
03The ruling means that a person or company cannot legally own the taste of food and prevent others from copying it.
04Dutch company Levola Hengelo makes a cheese spread called Hexenkass, or Witch's Cheese.
05The company claimed that cheesemaker Smilde copied its product with another cheese spread called Vitevivenkass, or White Women's Cheese.
06So Levola took its competitor to court.
07The company said the competitor's cheese was a copy of its product and violated its copyright of the cheese's taste.
08The Dutch court asked for guidance from the European Court of Justice, or ECG.
09The ECG judges said, The taste of a food product is not eligible for copyright protection.
10They said, unlike works of writing, photography, movies, and music, the taste of a food cannot be identified with precision and objectivity.
11The judges added that the taste of food depends on personal taste and experience.
12This is not the first time that the court had to rule on a dispute about food.
13Last July, the ECG ruled that Nestle could not trademark the four-finger shape of its Kit Kat chocolate bars.
14Michel Wildenborg of Levola disagreed with the cheese ruling.
15He said, We find it a pity and incorrect that the creative expression in food and perfumes do not have copyright protection, and that everyone can make a copy of it.
16And that's what's trending today.
// transcribed with Whisper AI — reading it is easy; catching it by ear is the skill
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