The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) is an institution of the European Union (EU). It is responsible, inter alia, for ensuring that EU law is interpreted and applied in a consistent way in all EU countries. If a national court is in doubt about the interpretation or validity of an EU law, it can ask the Court for clarification. The same mechanism can be used to determine whether a national law or practice is compatible with EU law. The CJEU also resolves legal disputes between national governments and EU institutions, and can take action against EU institutions on behalf of individuals, companies or organisations.
Welcome back to Part II of the analysis of AG Emiliou’s Opinion in C-590/23 Pelham II. In Part I (here), we analysed the interpretation of pastiche as an autonomous concept of EU law, along with its defining features. In this Part II, we turn to the balancing of fundamental rights. Here, the AG ventures into…
The long-awaited opinion of Advocate-General (AG) Emiliou in C-590/23 Pelham, the enduring dispute between the electronic music group Kraftwerk against hip-hop producers, and their production company Pelham GmbH, has now been published. For those who had not been following the developments, the case has once again reached the Bundesgerichtshof (BGH), Germany’s Federal Court of Justice,…
On 8 May, coinciding with the 80th anniversary of the end of WWII, Advocate General Szpunar delivered his long-awaited opinion in joined cases Mio/konektra (C-580/23 and C-795/23). The two cases were referred by the Svea Court of Appeal, Patent and Commercial Court of Appeal in Stockholm and the German Federal Court of Justice in cases…
There is a bit of excitement in copyright circles about the first case referred to the CJEU that directly addresses the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and the EU copyright framework. The request for a preliminary ruling — Like Company v Google (C-250/25) — originates from the Budapest Capital Regional Court (Budapest Környéki Törvényszék) and…
Slightly overdue, but here comes the first roundup of 2025. The EU courts have issued just one judgment in this trimester, but to make up for it, there have been several interesting policy initiatives. As a reminder, in this post we update you on developments in EU copyright law between January and March 2025 —…
The concept of lawfulness in relation to user status or user acts has been gradually established in EU digital copyright law as a condition for the enjoyment of certain copyright exceptions. However, the concept has proliferated inconsistently, lacking a clear normative content and shape. There is variant terminology: “lawful acquirer of a computer program” or…
Welcome back for the second part of the C-590/23 Pelham II hearing commentary. In part one (here), we covered the interpretation of pastiche. However, a very interesting topic arose in the Court’s pre-emptive questions, and during the oral questions: the interaction of “pastiche” with Article 17 CDSM Directive. This was not originally part of the…
Now that 2024 is behind us, it’s time to report on the fourth trimester. Here is our final roundup of that AI-rich year. This post marks the fourth year of running this series on our blog. In it, we provide updates on key developments in EU copyright law from October to December 2024, covering everything…
Ministers from six European countries (Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, The Netherlands and Sweden) have written a joint letter to the European Commission regarding the need for a legislative proposal on rules and boundaries of international application of EU law on copyright and neighbouring rights. The English version of the letter is available here. The letter…
Yesterday, the European Copyright Society (ECS) published its Opinion on the CJEU MIO/konektra cases C- 580/23 and C-795/23 (originality and infringement test of works of applied art). The Executive Summary is reproduced below and the full Opinion is available here: ecs-opinion-mio-konektra.pdf Executive summary Background. In Cofemel, the CJEU recognized that (i) the standard test…
