(1) The ECJ had to decide whether linking to live internet streams of sport events infringed on the exclusive related rights of broadcasting organizations. Prior to this case, the Court decided linking related issues in Svensson and Bestwater (see below). The request for a preliminary ruling came from the Supreme Court of Sweden. The online broadcaster C More Entertainment challenged the legality of Mr. Sandberg’s website hosting links enabling users to circumvent a paywall to watch its live streams of hockey matches. The ECJ concluded that national legislation may extend the exclusive right of the broadcasting organisations to acts of communication to the public encompassing broadcasts of sporting fixtures made live on internet. (2) The referring court decided to drop a number of questions concerning whether placing...
(1) The Court issued a reasoned order ex Article 99 of the Rule of Procedure of the European Court of Justice, which applied the findings of the Svensson decision (see below). (2) The case concerned the lawfullness under EU law of the practice of inserting on websites clickable links that use the technique of "framing" and through which the user was directed to a film on which BestWater maintained the exclusive rights. BestWater manufactures and markets water filter systems. For advertising needs, she produced a short film on the water pollution. The film was available on the video platform "YouTube" without Bestwater's consent. Mebes and Potsch are independent sales agents who act on behalf of a competitor of BestWater International. They each have a website where they promote the products marketed by their client...
The ECJ stated that European libraries may digitize books in their collection without permission from the rightholders. The decision confirmed a previous opinion of the ECJ's Advocate General. (1) The ECJ noted that European law "must be interpreted to mean that it does not preclude Member States from granting to publicly accessible libraries . . . the right to digitise the works contained in their collections . . . ." However, several caveats attach to this general statement. First, such act of reproduction must be necessary for the purpose of making those works available to users, by means of dedicated terminals, in public libraries, for the purpose of research or private study. (par. 46). Second, the ECJ recognizes this right provided that "specific acts of reproduction" are involved. Therefore, the public library...
The ECJ stated that EU law must be interpreted as not precluding a court injunction that does not specify the measures which an access provider must take to block access to a website making available copyrighted material without the rightsholders’ permission. Additionally, the ECJ concludes that blocking orders can be imposed on access providers when they can avoid incurring coercive penalties for breach of that injunction by showing that they have taken all reasonable measures. According to the ECJ, measures are deemed “reasonable” provided that (i) they do not unnecessarily deprive internet users of the possibility of lawfully accessing the information available and (ii) they have the effect of preventing unauthorized access to copyrighted materials or, at least, of seriously discouraging internet users from...
The ECJ decided that links to authorized works freely available online do not infringe the E.U.-recognized exclusive right of communication to the public. The case involved journalists claiming that the website Retriever Sverige had improperly linked to news articles they had authored, thereby making those articles available to the public without permission, in violation of copyright law. (1) For the first time, the ECJ announced a rule that links communicate works to the public, which is a copyright owner’s sole prerogative under EU law. However, the court said that those links are not infringing and do not need additional authorization from the copyright owner unless they make the work available to a new public (par. 25-28). A new public must include people other than those who can access the work thanks to the...
Angelopoulos, Christina, Beyond the Safe Harbours: Harmonising Substantive Intermediary Liability for Copyright Infringement in Europe (November 28, 2013). Intellectual Property Quarterly, 2013-3, p. 253-274.; Amsterdam Law School Research Paper No. 2013-72; Institute for Information Law Research Paper No. 2013-11. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2360997