CJEU

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.

CJEU, Communication (right of), Digital Single Market, European Union, Germany, Infringement

(GFF (Society for Civil Rights))/ /Leave a comment

Yesterday the German Federal Supreme Court (Bundesgerichtshof) published its rulings on three long-standing copyright disputes involving fundamental rights. All three cases had been the subject of preliminary rulings by the CJEU last year, case C‑469/17 (Funke Medien), case C‑516/17 (Spiegel Online) and case C‑476/17 (Pelham). In the two press freedom-related cases, the German Federal Supreme…

Belgium, CJEU, Communication (right of), Enforcement, European Union, Liability

(Institute for Information Law (IViR), University of Amsterdam)/ /1 Comment

On 6 August 2019 the Ondernemingsrechtbank Antwerpen (the court) submitted a request for a preliminary ruling to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on a dispute between Mircom, a company registered under Cypriot law, and Telenet, a Belgian internet service provider whose users presumably shared copyright protected works via Bit-torrent. This case…

Case Law, CDSM Directive, CJEU, Communication (right of), Digital Single Market, European Union, Liability, Netherlands

(Institute for Information Law (IViR), University of Amsterdam)/ /Leave a comment

On 12 June 2019, the High Court of the Netherlands referred four questions to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) for a preliminary ruling. The questions concern an ongoing battle between Stichting Brein, a Dutch anti-piracy organisation representing movie and music industries, and NSE (News-Service.com), an online platform for Usenet services. Stichting…

AG Opinion, Belgium, Case Law, CJEU, Design Rights, European Union, Infringement, Originality, Subject matter (copyrightable)

(The University of Nottingham)/ /Leave a comment

Part I of this post provided an overview of the facts of the case and the recent opinion of AG Campos Sanchez-Bordona. Overall, the opinion is a mixed result. It makes some good points but also some ill-judged ones, and these will be explored in more detail in this post. Let us start with the positive…

AG Opinion, Belgium, Case Law, CJEU, Design Rights, European Union, Infringement, Subject matter (copyrightable)

(The University of Nottingham)/ /Leave a comment

This case concerned the famous Brompton bicycle which can be folded to carry away after use (Case C‑833/18, SI, Brompton Bicycle Ltd. v. Chedech / Get2Get). The bike was once protected by a patent and, following its expiry, the defendant (Chedech/Get2Get) embarked on selling a similar bike in Belgium (the designs of the two bikes…

CDSM Directive, CJEU, Digital Single Market, European Union, Legislative process

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As we enter a new year, we would like to take this opportunity to pass on our best wishes for 2020 to all of our readers, as well as reflect on developments in copyright over the past year.  Last year was another busy one in the copyright world, with a number of landmark CJEU decisions,…

CJEU, Distribution (right of), Exhaustion, France

(Institute for Information Law (IViR), University of Amsterdam)/ /Leave a comment

On 17 September 2019, the Paris Court of First Instance (“court”) delivered its judgment in the dispute between UFC-Que Choisir (“UFC”), a consumer organisation, and a videogame distribution platform operated by Valve. Among other issues, the court was asked to decide whether subscribers to Valve’s platform should be allowed to resell videogames purchased digitally. The…

Case Law, CJEU, Communication (right of), Infringement, Liability, United Kingdom

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The recent decision in Warner Music & another v TuneIn Inc [2019] EWHC 2923 (ch), was the first time the English Courts have forensically assessed the implications of CJEU decisions such as GS Media and Svensson on communication to the public over the internet. Many of us have been left bemused by the concepts the…

Case Law, CJEU, Design Rights, European Union

(Elzaburu)/ /Leave a comment

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) defines the principle of cumulative protection under the systems for protection of designs and of works, in order to clarify the circumstances in which designs and models may additionally be considered a “work” and be entitled to the protection conferred by copyright under the InfoSoc Directive….

CJEU, European Union, Exceptions and Limitations, Germany, Infringement, Reproduction (right of)

(Institute for Information Law (IViR)) and (University College Dublin)/ /Leave a comment

The first part of this blogpost discussed the interpretation given to the right of phonogram producers under Article 2(c) of Directive 2001/29/EC (InfoSoc Directive) and Article 9(1)(b) of Directive 2006/115 (Rental and Lending Rights Directive) by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU or Court) in Pelham. Contrary to the Opinion of Advocate…