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.
The CJEU held that the concept of ‘lending’, within the meaning of Article 1(1), Article 2(1)(b) and Article 6(1) of Directive 2006/115/EC, covers the lending of a digital copy of a book where the lending is carried out by placing the copy on the server of a public library and allowing a user to reproduce…
On 7 September 2017, AG Szpunar delivered his opinion on Case C-265/16, VCAST. The case concerns the question of whether the private copying exception covers the services of an online platform that allows users to store copies of free-to-air TV programmes in private cloud storage spaces. AG Szpunar’s proposed answer was a mixed one: while…
Following an interlocutory question from the French Council of State, in a dispute concerning the legality of the decree of 27 February 2013 on the application of the law of 1 March 2012 on the digitisation of out-of-print books of the 20th century, the Court of Justice of the European Union (Case C-301-15) rightfully stated that…
A full summary of this case has been published on Kluwer IP Law and the case has been discussed on the Kluwer Copyright Blog here. The CJEU held that Article 2(a) and Article 3(1) of Directive 2001/29 preclude national legislation that gives an approved collecting society the right to authorise the digital reproduction and communication to the…
To ensure you don’t miss out on interesting IP law developments reported on our other IP blogs, we will, on a regular basis, provide you with an overview of the top 3 most-read posts from each of our IP law blogs. Here are the top posts from June, July and August. Top 3 Kluwer Copyright…
In the case Staatlich genehmigte Gesellschaft der Autoren, Komponisten und Musikverleger registrierte Genossenschaft mbH (AKM) V Zürs.net Betriebs GmbH (C-138/16, Judgment of 16 March 2017) the CJEU was called upon to decide once again on the seminal concept of communication to the public. The right of communication to the public, which has proved to be…
Back in December last year, we reported –on this blog– on the legal vacuum left in the wake of the Spanish Supreme Court’s judgment declaring the system for financing private copying null and void. As you will recall, from 2012 to 2016 fair compensation for private copying was financed in Spain from the General State…
A full summary of this case has been published on Kluwer IP Law and the case has been discussed on the Kluwer Copyright Blog here. The CJEU held that Article 9, particularly the concept of ‘access to cable of broadcasting services’, must be interpreted as not covering or permitting national legislation which provides that copyright…
On 14 June 2017, the CJEU handed down its highly anticipated decision in Case C-610/15, Stichting Brein v Ziggo. As was reported on this blog when the Advocate General’s Opinion was released, the case represents the first time that the liability proper (i.e. for damages, as opposed to mere injunctions) of an internet intermediary for…
A full summary of this case has been published on Kluwer IP Law and the case has been discussed on the Kluwer Copyright Blog here. The CJEU held that EU law, particularly Article 5(2)(b) of Directive 2001/29, precludes national legislation that subjects exemption from payment of the private copying levy for producers and importers of…
