Distribution (right of)

The right of distribution is set out in Article 4(1) of Directive 2001/29/EC (the Copyright Directive or Infosoc Directive), which requires that Member States shall provide for authors, in respect of the original of their works or of copies thereof, the exclusive right to authorise or prohibit any form of distribution to the public
by sale or otherwise.
Case Law, CJEU, Distribution (right of), European Union, Exceptions and Limitations, Exhaustion, Netherlands, Reproduction (right of)

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Introduction: digital exhaustion One of the main limitations to the right of distribution in European copyright law is the principle or rule of exhaustion. This rule, known as the first sale doctrine in US law, means that the right of distribution is exhausted by the first sale or other transfer of ownership of a copy…

Communication (right of), Digital Single Market, Distribution (right of), European Union, Liability, Reproduction (right of)

(University of Milan)/ /1 Comment

Introduction Cloud Services are often used for communicating, distributing and reproducing digital content, since IP based devices are nowadays a common means for exploiting such content and the IP connection between client devices and servers is made simpler with the use of virtualized resources in Cloud. We noted in a previous post (see here) that…

Case Law, CJEU, Distribution (right of), European Union, Infringement, Sweden

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In its judgment of 19 December 2018 in Criminal proceedings against Imran Syed (C-572/17) the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) rules that the storage of copyright infringing items constitutes infringement of the distribution right if identical items are also held at the actual place of sale and those items are intended to…

AG Opinion, Case Law, CJEU, Distribution (right of), European Union, Infringement, Sweden

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The right of distribution is the least controversial of the three exclusive rights contained in the Information Society Directive (InfoSoc Directive). Yet, every now and then the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) is asked to re-examine its scope. With far less interpretative imagination compared with the right of communication to the public,…

Communication (right of), Distribution (right of), Exhaustion, Making available (right of), Reproduction (right of)

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As the jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice and ongoing discussions in the EU legislature illustrate, the economic rights granted to right holders under EU copyright law – the rights of reproduction, communication to the public and distribution – have become increasingly unpredictable. While the right of reproduction already covers almost every direct or…

Austria, Case Law, CJEU, Distribution (right of), Infringement, Making available (right of), Reproduction (right of)

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Placing a copyright-infringing armchair in a hotel lobby does not qualify as “distribution”, but displaying a photo of it on the hotel’s website does qualify as “making available” under copyright law.  This is the outcome of a recent Austrian Supreme Court judgment, notable for its reversal of the decision of that same court in the…

Case Law, CJEU, Distribution (right of), European Union, Exhaustion, Software

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Lawful acquirers of computer programs cannot resell back-up copies of the programs. This is according to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in case C-166/15 (Ranks/Vasiļevičs v. Finanšu un ekonomisko noziegumu izmeklēšanas prokoratūra/Microsoft Corp). The circumstances of the case were that two persons sold, on an online marketplace, used copies of computer…

Case Law, Collective management, Distribution (right of), Infringement, Norway

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The Norwegian Supreme Court confirmed that the distribution of copyright protected works via music channels was a distribution that required clearance from the rightholder.  The judge held that when a distribution happens as a consequence of signals being taken down from a satellite transmission not meant for the public, as in the case under consideration, there is…

Case Law, Digital Single Market, Distribution (right of), European Union, Exceptions and Limitations, Remuneration (equitable)

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On June 16, Advocate General (AG) Spuznar delivered his opinion in Case C‑174/15 Vereniging Openbare Bibliotheken v Stichting Leenrecht. The case emerged from a dispute between VOB, the association of Dutch public libraries, and a foundation entrusted with collecting the remuneration for lending which is due to authors.  In VOB’s view, the lending of electronic…

Case Law, Damages, Distribution (right of), Infringement, Lithuania, Moral rights

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The court of appeals held that as there was no evidence that the Defendants had gained any profit from a public display of sculptures, they were not liable to pay royalties in respect of the exhibition.  However, the defendants were ordered to discontinue sales of products bearing pictures of the copyright sculptures as this activity…