Welcome back to Part II of the analysis of AG Emiliou’s Opinion in C-590/23 Pelham II. In Part I (here), we analysed the interpretation of pastiche as an autonomous concept of EU law, along with its defining features. In this Part II, we turn to the balancing of fundamental rights. Here, the AG ventures into…
The long-awaited opinion of Advocate-General (AG) Emiliou in C-590/23 Pelham, the enduring dispute between the electronic music group Kraftwerk against hip-hop producers, and their production company Pelham GmbH, has now been published. For those who had not been following the developments, the case has once again reached the Bundesgerichtshof (BGH), Germany’s Federal Court of Justice,…
In an age where digital access defines education, research, and participation, European libraries face serious legal and technical barriers to lending electronic books. Despite the digital shift, outdated or restrictive interpretations of copyright law often prevent libraries from fulfilling their public mission online. A new report led by the Future Law Lab at Jagiellonian University…
In an era where digital access to knowledge shapes the frontiers of education, research, and participation, European libraries face significant legal and technical obstacles in lending electronic books. While the shift from paper to digital is well underway in many sectors, libraries — long seen as guardians of knowledge and enablers of equal access —…
The rise of generative AI and automated content generation has raised legal and ethical issues, making them a focal point in creative and technological sectors. As stakeholders navigate this new terrain, the EU AI Act appears as a benchmark regulatory framework. This blog briefly examines the transparency provisions and trade secret protection under the Act,…
On 8 May, coinciding with the 80th anniversary of the end of WWII, Advocate General Szpunar delivered his long-awaited opinion in joined cases Mio/konektra (C-580/23 and C-795/23). The two cases were referred by the Svea Court of Appeal, Patent and Commercial Court of Appeal in Stockholm and the German Federal Court of Justice in cases…
There is a bit of excitement in copyright circles about the first case referred to the CJEU that directly addresses the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and the EU copyright framework. The request for a preliminary ruling — Like Company v Google (C-250/25) — originates from the Budapest Capital Regional Court (Budapest Környéki Törvényszék) and…
Introduction Not long ago, artificial intelligence (“AI”) was a concept brought to life by human actors – whether through Scarlett Johansson’s voice in Her (2013) or as Alicia Vikander’s eerie humanoid presence in Ex Machina (2014). Today, the roles have reversed: it is AI that is creating on-screen performances that appear convincingly human. From de-aging…
This week, COMMUNIA released a new report detailing unfair practices in the licensing of digital resources to libraries (as a PDF file). This report describes contractual practices identified by licensing managers from public and academic libraries across Europe during a meeting organised by COMMUNIA under the Chatham House Rule. The report also contains clauses from…
This two-part blog looks at the provisions that exist in library laws across European countries concerning the building of collections and what libraries can do with them. It then assesses how far the achievement of these mandated functions is frustrated by a lack of access to e-books. The first part of this blog provided…
