Digital Single Market

The Digital Single Market denotes the strategy of the European Commission to ensure access to online activities for individuals and businesses under conditions of fair competition, consumer and data protection, removing geo-blocking and copyright issues.

Case Law, CJEU, Communication (right of), Digital Single Market, European Union, Infringement, Making available (right of)

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On 26 March, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) handed down Case C-279/13 C More Entertainment, the latest decision regarding the right of communication to the public in the context of websites providing links to content. In this particular case, C More provided live broadcasts of ice hockey matches on the Internet for payment of…

Authorship, Case Law, Digital Single Market, European Union, Germany, Infringement, Jurisdiction, Making available (right of)

(Institute of Legal Informatics, Leibniz Universität Hannover)/ /Leave a comment

“What has not been clarified though is the aspect of unfair competition.” On 21st of October 2014 the Court of Justice of the European Union delivered its order in a preliminary ruling procedure (C-348/13), which was referred to the CJEU by the German Federal Court of Justice (BGH) in May 2013.  As yet, only the…

Digital Single Market, European Union, Jurisdiction, Legislative process

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“Every day citizens here in the Netherlands and across the EU break the law just to do something commonplace. And who can blame them when those laws are so ill-adapted.” Speech Neelie Kroes, vice-president of the European Commission, delivered at the opening of Information Influx, the 25th anniversary conference of the Institute for Information Law…

Case Law, Digital Single Market, European Union, Infringement, Making available (right of)

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“In other words, the initial communication by the copyright holder already encompassed the potential public that subsequently accessed the content via the links” The long-awaited judgment of the CJEU in the Svensson case, judgment of 13 February 2013 in (C-466/12). The legal definition of internet links has been a widely-discussed subject in recent times, pitting…

Case Law, Communication (right of), Digital Single Market, Infringement, Making available (right of)

(Institute of Intellectual Property Law, Jagiellonian University Kraków)/ /Leave a comment

The Court of Justice delivered its highly anticipated decision on linking. A breath of relief is allowed: linking seems to be legal. But when one looks a little closer, disturbing things begin to emerge. First things first. The decision in Case C‑466/12, resulting from a request for a preliminary ruling from a Swedish court (Nils…

Case Law, Communication (right of), Digital Single Market, Infringement, Jurisdiction, Netherlands

(Institute for Information Law (IViR))/ /Leave a comment

“In that case, the publication of an hyperlink is, in principle, not an autonomous communication to the public” It is a common fact that the sex-industry, along with the arms industry,  is a driving force behind many new developments. Porn is a major force on the internet and it also shouldn’t come as a surprise…

Digital Single Market, European Union, Jurisdiction, Legislative process

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“The first question (territoriality) and the last question (single EU copyright title) could be considered as the alpha and the omega of the questionnaire and they are interlinked in various ways.” A public consultation on the review of EU copyright rules was launched by the European Commission a few  days ago .  The consultation refers…

Case Law, Digital Single Market, Germany, Making available (right of)

(Institute of Legal Informatics, Leibniz Universität Hannover)/ /Leave a comment

“The BGH thus insinuates that framing may be a yet “unnamed right of exploitation” within the scope of Art. 15(2) Copyright Act.” On 16th May 2013 the first Senate of the German Federal Court of Justice (BGH), delivered its judgment in another case revolving around the issue of hyperlinking or framing. If one had hoped…

Belgium, Digital Single Market, Enforcement, Infringement, Making available (right of)

(Marx, Van Ranst, Vermeersch & Partners)/ /Leave a comment

“No need to wait for the ECJ, the Court replied.” In Belgium, besides being a tort from a civil law perspective, a copyright infringement can also be a criminal offence, on the condition that it is done “with malicious or fraudulent intent”. When copyright infringements are committed by unknown perpetrators (which is quite common on…

Case Law, Communication (right of), Digital Single Market, European Union, Making available (right of), Reproduction (right of), Sweden

(Institute for Information Law (IViR))/ /Leave a comment

The European Copyright Society, a group of prominent European scholars, today issued an opinion on the Svensson case (Case C-466/12), which is currently before the European Court of Justice. The case, which was referred to the Court by the Swedish Court of Appeal (Svea hovrätt) on 18 October 2012, raises the important question whether setting…