Judgment — ECLI:EU:C:2013:850
Date: 2013-12-19
Language of the case: Dutch
Court formation: Fifth Chamber
Subject matter: Intellectual, industrial and commercial property;Approximation of laws
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Netherlands

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Fifth Chamber), 19 December 2013 1. Approximation of laws — Legal protection of databases — Directive 96/9 — Right for the maker of a database to prevent extraction and/or re-utilisation of the whole or of a substantial part of the contents of that database (sui generis right) — Concept of re-utilisation (European Parliament and Council Directive 96/9, Art. 7(2)(b)) 2. Approximation of laws — Legal protection of databases — Directive 96/9 — Aim (European Parliament and Council Directive 96/9) 3. Approximation of laws — Legal protection of databases — Directive 96/9 — Right for the maker of a database to prevent extraction and/or re-utilisation of the whole or of a substantial part of the contents of that database (sui generis right) — Concept of re-utilisation — Placing on the Internet, by its operator, of a dedicated meta search engine — Included — Criteria for assessment (European Parliament and Council Directive 96/9, Art. 7(1) and (2)(b)) 1. See the text of the decision. (see paras 31-34, 37, 38) 2. See the text of the decision. (see paras 35, 36) 3. Article 7(1) of Directive 96/9 on the legal protection of databases must be interpreted as meaning that an operator who makes available on the Internet a dedicated meta search engine re-utilises the whole or a substantial part of the contents of a database protected under Article 7, where that dedicated meta engine: - provides the end user with a search form which essentially offers the same range of functionality as the search form on the database site; - ‘translates’ queries from end users into the search engine for the database site ‘in real time’, so that all the information on that database is searched through; and - presents the results to the end user using the format of its website, grouping duplications together into a single block item but in an order that reflects criteria comparable to those used by the search engine of the database site concerned for presenting results. (see para. 54, operative part)