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, Collective management, Exceptions and Limitations, Legislative process, Remuneration (equitable), Reproduction (right of), Spain

(European Audiovisual Observatory )/ /Leave a comment

As mentioned in a previous post, on 22 March 2011 the Spanish Audiencia Nacional (High Court) annulled for formal reasons the Spanish ordinance that determines which digital reproduction equipment and media are subject to the private copying levies. The ordinance had been challenged before the Spanish courts by the Asociación de Internautas (an Internet users’…

Belgium, Collective management, Exceptions and Limitations, Infringement, Jurisdiction, Legislative process, Remuneration (equitable)

(Marx, Van Ranst, Vermeersch & Partners)/ /1 Comment

Two contradictory legislative proposals have been quite recently submitted for discussion at the Belgian Parliament, which should implement solutions to the thorny file-sharing issue. On the one hand, Senators Morael and Pyryns proposed on 9 December 2010 [Doc 5-590/1] a law “aiming at adapting the perception of copyright to the technological evolution while preserving privacy…

Collective management, Exceptions and Limitations, Legislative process, Remuneration (equitable), Reproduction (right of), Spain

(European Audiovisual Observatory )/ /Leave a comment

On 2 March 2011 the Audiencia Provincial de Barcelona took note of the judgment of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) in the case Padawan v SGAE (C-467/08) and decided that the indiscriminate obligation of paying private copying levies as provided for in Art. 25 of the Spanish Ley de Propiedad Intelectual (Intellectual…

Exceptions and Limitations, Fair Use, Legislative process, Netherlands

(Schulich School of Law )/ /3 Comments

Discussions around a fair use defence are not new in The Netherlands. Already in the years immediately following the adoption of the EU Copyright Directive, the idea of introducing a fair use defence in the Dutch Copyright Act had given rise to heated debate, at least in the literature. The debate recently resurged when the…

Exceptions and Limitations, Infringement, Liability, Making available (right of), Remedies

(European Audiovisual Observatory )/ /Leave a comment

On 15 February 2011, the Spanish Parliament adopted the Ley de Economía Sostenible (Sustainable Economy Act). This act aims at turning Spain’s economic model into a more sustainable one from not only a economic but also social and environmental point of view. Among many other issues, this act includes some very controversial provisions amending three…