Exceptions and Limitations

Exceptions and Limitations to copyright are provisions which allow for works protected by copyright to be used in specific situations without a licence from the copyright owner. There are numerous limitations and exceptions found in copyright legislation including, for example, the fair use exception, exceptions for libraries, archives and educational institutions, and the back-up copy exception.

Case Law, Exceptions and Limitations, France, Legislative process, Private copying, Remuneration (equitable)

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In a judgment of 17 March 2016, the Cour de cassation, the French Supreme Court, ruled that the judicial courts are required to assess and award the remuneration for private copying in situations where one of the decisions of the Commission in charge of setting the fair compensation has been annulled. A full summary of…

Case Law, CJEU, European Union, Exceptions and Limitations, Jurisdiction, Private copying, Remuneration (equitable)

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In this decision, the CJEU tackled an international jurisdiction issue, since what was essentially under debate in the main proceedings was the applicability of Article 5(3) of Regulation 44/2001 on jurisdiction in civil and commercial matters, which enables, in matters relating to tort, delict or quasi-delict, persons domiciled in one Member State to be sued…

Case Law, Collective management, European Union, Exceptions and Limitations, Liability, Private copying, Remuneration (equitable), Spain

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1                Background, facts and questions On 9 June 2016 the CJEU ruled on Case C-470/14 – EGEDA and Others (‘EGEDA’). This marks the tenth occasion on which the Court has ruled on the private copying exception or limitation in Article 5(2)(b) of Directive 2001/29/EC (the ‘InfoSoc Directive’) after Padawan, Stichting de Thuiskopie, Luksan, VG Wort,…

Case Law, Collective management, Exceptions and Limitations, France, Legislative process, Private copying, Remedies, Remuneration (equitable)

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In a judgment of 17 March 2016, the Cour de cassation, the French Supreme Court, ruled that the judicial courts are required to assess and award compensation for private copying in situations where a decision of the Commission in charge of setting the fair compensation has been annulled. This judgment seems to mean that the…

Case Law, Communication (right of), Exceptions and Limitations, Infringement, Liability, Portugal

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The appeal court held that the diffusion of broadcast works as ambient music, by means of playing radio broadcasts through several loudspeakers in a fruit shop open to the public, was a mere reception and not a reuse of the broadcast works and therefore it did not require the authorisation of the copyright holders. A…

Exceptions and Limitations, Fair Use, Infringement, USA

(Kyushu University), (Leibniz Universität Hannover), and (Vilnius University)/ /2 Comments

The saga over the legality of the Google Books project finally came to an end on April 18, 2016, when the Supreme Court of the US refused to intervene in the case over alleged copyright infringement for scanning millions of books and making them searchable online. This was a final blow to authors’ representatives who…

Case Law, Exceptions and Limitations, Infringement, United Kingdom

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The court held that the operators of a website and mobile applications had infringed the claimants’ copyright in TV broadcasts and films of cricket matches by allowing users to upload, view and share short clips of cricket match broadcasts. Fair dealing for the purposes of reporting current events in accordance with s30(2) CDPA did not…

European Union, Exceptions and Limitations, Text and Data Mining (TDM)

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Our era is the era of ‘Big Data’. The proliferation of data that we have experienced in recent years is unprecedented, and its volume only grows. Some numbers: we create 2.5 quintillion bytes of data every day and 90% of the data in today’s world has been created in the last two years. The volume…

Case Law, Exceptions and Limitations, Infringement, Making available (right of), Reproduction (right of), Sweden

, (Lindahl)/ /1 Comment

Question referred to the Supreme Court by Stockholm District Court in a case between Bildupphovsrätt i Sverige ek.för. (BUS) vs Wikimedia Sverige (Case nr Ö 849-15) On 4th April 2016 the Supreme Court handed down its decision in a case between Bildupphovsrätt i Sverige (BUS) and Wikimedia Sverige. The question referred to the Supreme Court…

Communication (right of), European Union, Exceptions and Limitations, Infringement, Legislative process, Liability, Making available (right of), Reproduction (right of)

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When a new disruptive innovation comes around, the question always arises as to whether the current legal regimes can provide answers to all potential legal questions arising out of such new technologies and their business cases. The process for obtaining legal certainty may take some time, especially with regard to computer related technology: e.g., whilst…