Exhaustion

Exhaustion” refers to one of the limits of intellectual property (IP) rights, such as copyright. Once a product covered by an IP right has been marketed by the right owner or by others with the consent of the owner, the IP rights of commercial exploitation over this given product are said to be exhausted and can no longer be exercised by the owner.

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

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

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…

Case Law, Digital Single Market, Exhaustion, Germany

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This post was first published on the Kluwer Trademark Blog In a judgement of April 2018, the Regional Court of Hamburg has ruled on the use of original advertising material by non-authorized dealers and on how trademark law can bypass copyright law (308 O 231/16). The plaintiff manufactures saddle bags and other high quality cycling…

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…

Exhaustion, Infringement, Landmark Cases, Liability, Netherlands

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The Court of Appeal ruled that the resale of used e-books by Tom Kabinet was permitted based on the CJEU’s UsedSoft ruling, although that case dealt with the sale of second-hand software. Nevertheless, the Court agreed with NUV that Tom Kabinet, as an internet intermediary, facilitates the resale of illegal content by the absence of…

Case Law, Distribution (right of), European Union, Exhaustion, Reproduction (right of)

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

In its recent decision (22 January 2015) in the Allposters case (C-419/13), the ECJ confirmed that exhaustion of the distribution rights does not apply to works that have been modified. The copyright owner can therefore still oppose the distribution of the modified work, even if he had agreed to the distribution of the original work….

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

(Institute of Intellectual Property Law, Jagiellonian University Kraków)/ /1 Comment

“With a bit of pathos one may say that the CJEU has restored the old exhaustion principle to its full glory in the digital age. In order to do so the Court did not hesitate to be adventurous with legal interpretation and has also opened new fields for discussion.” On July 3 the CJEU delivered…

Case Law, Distribution (right of), European Union, Exhaustion, Reproduction (right of)

(Institute of Intellectual Property Law, Jagiellonian University Kraków)/ /1 Comment

On April 24, 2012 the Advocate General Yves Bot delivered his opinion in the UsedSoft case (C-128/11) concerning exhaustion in digital products that have not been distributed on a material carrier. I think this may be one of the more interesting and bold opinions in the area of copyright law, although I am aware the…

Distribution (right of), European Union, Exhaustion, Infringement, Jurisdiction

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“It can be argued that the Commission looks at this type of decisions as a mandate to legislate, at least to a certain extent. The possibility of further harmonization based on a possible CJEU decision cannot therefore be ruled out.” On 29 March 2012 the Advocate General (AG) Jääskinen delivered his Opinion in Case C-5/11…

Exhaustion, Jurisdiction, Landmark Cases, United Kingdom

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In its groundbreaking judgment of 4 October 2011 the Court of Justice of the European Union has essentially legalized the import, sale and use of foreign satellite television decoder cards. The judgment, which was given in two joined (originally British) cases, concerned decoder cards that provide access to encrypted satellite transmissions from Greece of British…