This monograph conducts a comprehensive analysis of the EU right of communication to the public, one of the exclusive rights under EU copyright law, and provides an alternative framework for its interpretation and application. The present state of the law is unsatisfactory; there is uncertainty in the acquis communautaire and courts at the EU and domestic levels have struggled to apply the right. Therefore, the book identifies the problems with the existing right of communication to the public and proposes recommendations for reform. In addition to reforming the scope of the right of communication to the public, the jurisdiction and applicable law in relation to the right are analysed and changes are recommended. Thus, the book covers both the scope and practicalities of a coherent and effective reform of the right. In light of the continuing development and accompanying tribulations with this right at the EU level, this book provides a topical and timely analysis that will be of interest to academics and practitioners working on EU copyright law. Cited in Opinion of Advocate General Henrik Saugmandsgaard Øe, joined Cases C-682/18 and C-683/18, Frank Peterson v Google LLC, YouTube LLC, YouTube Inc., Google Germany GmbH and Elsevier Inc. v Cyando AG, ECLI:EU:C:2020:586, Court of Justice of the European Union, 16 July 2020.

The economic right of a copyright holder to communicate to the public has become an increasingly important and complex issue in recent years, this is partially due to changes in the way that content is accessed and consumed online. This innovative book analyses the right of communication to the public, taking account of what legal standing an autonomous legal concept can hold, and how this is impacted by wider harmonisation efforts at an EU level.

In the ever-evolving information age, the right of communication to the public has struggled for a predictable interpretation under EU copyright law. Through the successive rulings of the CJEU, a body of law is beginning to emerge to interpret the right. Some of the findings of the CJEU have brought an uncomfortable overlap of right of communication to the public with the pre-existing right of public performance. Certain other findings such as the need for an active intervention by the user, the concept of "new public" and the need for an economic gain resulting from the communication have identified elements of the right not obvious from a plain reading of the provisions, although these findings have not been consistently applied. The purpose of this article is to unpack all these findings, and take a critical look at whether such findings are in tune with the jurisprudential basis of the right, and assess their impact on the national laws.

EU Copyright Law Subsistence, Exploitation and Protection of Rights Morten Rosenmeier, Kacper Szkalej and Sanna Wolk Against a background in which technology continues to change the ways we create, use, distribute and consume cultural content – and where there has been a noticeable increase in the body of case law of Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) relating to copyright – copyright protection has become an essential component of the knowledge-based economy and the information society. This book, structured around the various rights and issues rather than the legislative instruments, greatly facilitates an understanding of the complex legal area of European Union (EU) copyright law and provides for a more conscious application of these rules. Among the issues and topics covered are the following: the CJEU’s interpretation of EU copyright law and application of fundamental rights; authorship and ownership of copyright; protection of computer programs and databases; scope of exclusive rights, such as communication to the public and distribution, including rental and lending; application of limitations and exceptions; cross-border access to online content services; digital exhaustion of copyright; and enforcement of copyright and cross-border issues; With its practical approach to the substance of the various legal rules and principles both at EU level and in the various EU Member States, the book clearly describes in detail how copyright law functions throughout the EU. Professionals, business entities and academics who must be familiar with this dynamic legal area, especially in the digital environment, will benefit greatly from the book’s clear consideration of legal questions that arise in connection with copyright issues.

This significantly revised and updated second edition addresses the rapid development of EU copyright law in relation to the advancement of new technologies, the need for a borderless digital market and the considerable number of EU legal instruments enacted as a result. Taking a comparative approach, the Commentary provides comprehensive coverage and in-depth commentary on each of the EU legal instruments and policies, both from an EU and an international perspective. Alongside full legislative analysis and article-by-article commentary, the Commentary illustrates the underlying basic principles of free movement and non-discrimination and provides insights into the influence of copyright on other areas of EU policy, including telecoms and bilateral trade agreements.

This ground-breaking casebook provides a comprehensive and comprehensible account of International Copyright law and its neighbouring rights, helping students to chart a path through these often difficult waters. It illuminates the fundamental influenc

More than a source of income and a means of protection for creators, rightholders, and the creative and entertainment industries, copyright is also a vehicle for technological advances and economic development. In the European Union, industries with intensive emphasis on intellectual property rights (mainly copyright) generate more than a quarter of employment and more than a third of economic activity. Yet copyright continues to be plagued by problematic attempts to balance the interests of rightholders, the public, consumers, intermediaries, collecting societies, different national legal traditions, and other forces, European and global. This book draws a comprehensive picture of current, pending, and proposed copyright developments – legislation, ‘communications,’ white papers, and court decisions – at the levels of the European Union and the World Intellectual Property Organization. Twenty-two well-known and prestigious experts on intellectual property law from seventeen jurisdictions worldwide contribute essays on particular trends in copyright, including discussions of the following and more: - making content available in an EU digital single market; - collective management and multi-territorial licensing; - exceptions for libraries and archives, education and research; - traditional knowledge and cultural expressions; - unjustified geoblocking; - illegal content on the Internet; - text and data mining; - copyright enforcement online; and - role of the European Court of Justice. Policy recommendations are also set forth, as well as a detailed conceptual framework for a potential EU Copyright Code. As a detailed and thoughtful overview of current trends in copyright internationally, this book has no peers. It is sure to be welcomed by practitioners, policymakers, academics, researchers, and business leaders for whom intellectual property rights, and especially copyright, are of the first importance.

In its 2016 decision in GS Media, C-160/15 the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) sought to clarify under what conditions the provision of a link to a work protected by copyright made available on a third-party website (where it is freely accessible) without a licence from the relevant rightholder falls within the scope of the right of communication to the public within Article 3(1) of the InfoSoc Directive.In its decision the CJEU held that whether linking to unlicensed content falls within or outside the scope of Article 3(1) of the InfoSoc Directive depends - crucially - on whether the link provider has a profit-making intention or knowledge of the unlicensed character of the work linked to.This article assesses the implications of the GS Media decision in respect of linking, and - more generally - the construction of the right of communication to the public.The main conclusion is that GS Media imposes a re-consideration of what amounts to an act of communication to the public. Yet, the forthcoming CJEU decisions in pending references for a preliminary ruling (Filmspeler, C-527/15, and Ziggo, C-601/15) might lead to a relaxation of the concept of 'indispensable intervention', thus broadening the notion of who makes an act of communication to the public.Ultimately the discussion undertaken in this contribution suggests that the concept of 'communication to the public' has been undergoing an evolution. The next frontier for Article 3(1) of the InfoSoc Directive appears to be not just a determination of what amounts to an act of communication to the public, but also who makes an act of communication to the public. The latter in particular is the next question for the CJEU to tackle, and also poses significant - and not entirely worked out - challenges to EU policy- and law-making.

The Routledge Handbook of EU Copyright Law provides a definitive survey of copyright harmonization in the European Union, capturing the essential and relevant issues of this relatively recent phenomenon. Over the past few years, two themes have emerged: on the one hand, copyright policy and legislative initiatives have intensified; on the other hand, the large number of references to the Court of Justice of the European Union has substantially shaped the EU copyright framework and, with it, the copyright framework of individual EU Member States. This handbook is a detailed reference source of original contributions which analyze and critically evaluate the state of EU copyright law with a view to detecting the key trends and patterns in the evolution of EU copyright, weighing the benefits and disadvantages of such evolution. It covers a broad range of topics through clusters focused on: the history and approaches to EU copyright harmonization; harmonization in the areas of exclusive rights, exceptions and limitations, and enforcement; copyright policy and legacy of harmonization. With contributions from a selection of highly regarded and leading scholars in this field, the Routledge Handbook on European Copyright Law is an essential resource for students and scholars who are interested in the field of copyright law.

This book presents a thorough exploration of the legal framework of EU digital copyright law from the perspective of the end-user. It provides a detailed examination of the implications that the spectacular rise of this new actor creates for the interplay between the EU copyright system and human rights law, competition law and other important policies contained in the EC Treaty. This comprehensive, book is crucial reading for lawyers, policymakers and academics.