Communication to the public

What means communication to the public in Directive 2001/29?

Published 26th January 2018

Between May 2004 and September 2007, Globus Circus, in its capacity as organiser of circus and cabaret performances, publicly disseminated musical works for commercial purposes without obtaining a ‘non-exclusive’ licence from UCMR – ADA (collective management organisation which handles music copyright) and without paying the appropriate copyright fees. On the view that Globus Circus had infringed its rights, UCMR – ADA brought proceedings before Tribunalul Bucureşti (District Court of Bucharest).

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GS Media v Sanoma – opinion of advocate general

Published 26th January 2018

It was apparent from the documents before the Court that protected works, namely photographs, were made available to users of websites such as Filefactory.com and Imageshack.us without the consent of the copyright holders, but that infringement of copyright was not at issue in the main proceedings.

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Online news aggregation and neighbouring rights for news publishers – evidence

Published 22nd January 2018

New draft paper takes an economic perspective on the neighbouring rights debate and tries to find an explanation for this market outcome. First of all, it examines the economic impact of news aggregation platforms on news publishers. The available empirical evidence shows that news aggregators have a positive impact on news publishers’ advertising revenue. That explains why publishers are eager to distribute their content through aggregators.

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The case when communication to the public is without intention to make profit

Published 18th January 2018

SCF, both within and outside Italy, manages, collects and distributes the royalties of its associated phonogram producers. SCF conducted negotiations with the Association of Italian Dentists with a view to concluding a collective agreement quantifying the relevant equitable remuneration for any ‘communication to the public’ of phonograms, including such communication in private professional practices.

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SCF v Marco Del Corso – opinion of advocate general

Published 16th January 2018

In the present case, the parties are in dispute in particular as to whether the principles developed in SGAE ruling, which concerned copyright and hotel bedrooms, can be applied by analogy to the related rights of phonogram producers and performers, where a radio broadcast in which phonograms are used is audible in a dental practice. The referring court wished to know, first of all, whether a dentist who makes radio broadcasts audible in his practice is required to pay equitable remuneration for the indirect communication to the public of phonograms communicated in the radio broadcasts.

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GS Media v Sanoma – observations of the parties in court

Published 12th January 2018

In the view of the Portuguese Republic, the person who makes the work directly available to the public and who therefore effects an ‘act of communication’ within the meaning of Article 3(1) of Directive 2001/29 is the person who places the work on the server from which the internet user is able to access it. The Portuguese Republic submits that it is not the ‘hyperlinker’ — who merely makes a secondary or indirect ‘communication’ — that ensures that ‘members of the public may access [the works] from a place and at a time individually chosen by them’. The act which actually produces that effect is undertaken by the person who effected the initial communication.

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GS Media v Sanoma and others – background

Published 8th January 2018

Sanoma, the publisher of the monthly magazine Playboy, commissioned a photographer, Mr Hermès, to conduct a photoshoot of Ms Dekker. Ms Dekker appears regularly in television programmes in the Netherlands. The photographer gave Sanoma full power of attorney to represent him for purposes of protection and enforcement of his intellectual property rights arising from the aforementioned commission.

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SWD IA on EU copyright modernisation – digital retransmissions of TV and radio programmes

Published 6th January 2018

The problem is that the providers of retransmission services face practical difficulties with the acquisition of rights for retransmission of TV and radio channels from other Member States by means other than cable.

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White paper – Making available issue

Published 24th February 2015

There is no unitary copyright title in Europe, so works are protected on the basis on 28 national legislations. The use of a work in all EU Member States therefore requires the clearing of rights for 28 territories. The varying availability and accessibility of content services in the EU can thus be caused by the difficulties that service providers have in obtaining all the rights needed in all territories.

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Category: Communication to the public