Case C-501/19: Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber) of 21 January 2021 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Înalta Curte de Casaţie şi Justiţie — Romania) — UCMR — ADA Asociaţia pentru Drepturi de Autor a Compozitorilor v Asociația Culturală ‘Suflet de Român’, represented by its liquidator, Pro Management Insolv IPURL (Reference for a preliminary ruling — Taxation — Value added tax (VAT) — Directive 2006/112/EC — Article 2(1)(c), Article 24(1) and Article 25(a) — Taxable transactions — Fees for the public performance of musical works — Article 28 — Collective copyright management organisation — Collection of those fees in its own name and on behalf of copyright holders from end users)
Date: 2021-01-21
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: VAT, copyright, invoicing, music, performing arts, provision of services, taxpayer








C_2021079EN.01001201.xml










8.3.2021   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 79/12






Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber) of 21 January 2021 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Înalta Curte de Casaţie şi Justiţie — Romania) — UCMR — ADA Asociaţia pentru Drepturi de Autor a Compozitorilor v Asociația Culturală ‘Suflet de Român’, represented by its liquidator, Pro Management Insolv IPURL
(Case C-501/19) (1)

(Reference for a preliminary ruling - Taxation - Value added tax (VAT) - Directive 2006/112/EC - Article 2(1)(c), Article 24(1) and Article 25(a) - Taxable transactions - Fees for the public performance of musical works - Article 28 - Collective copyright management organisation - Collection of those fees in its own name and on behalf of copyright holders from end users)
(2021/C 79/14)
Language of the case: Romanian

Referring court

Înalta Curte de Casaţie şi Justiţie

Parties to the main proceedings


Applicant: UCMR — ADA Asociaţia pentru Drepturi de Autor a Compozitorilor

Defendant: Asociația Culturală ‘Suflet de Român’, represented by its liquidator, Pro Management Insolv IPURL

Operative part of the judgment







1.


Article 2(1)(c) of Council Directive 2006/112/EC of 28 November 2006 on the common system of value added tax, as amended by Council Directive 2010/88/EU of 7 December 2010, must be interpreted as meaning that a holder of copyright in musical works supplies services for consideration to the end user, a performance organiser, where the latter is authorised, by a non-exclusive licence, to perform those works for a public audience in return for the payment of remuneration collected by an appointed collective management organisation which acts in its own name but on behalf of that copyright holder;










2.


Article 28 of Directive 2006/112/EC, as amended by Directive 2010/88, must be interpreted as meaning that a collective management organisation which collects, in its own name but on behalf of holders of copyright in musical works, royalties due to them in consideration for the authorisation for the public performance of their protected works, acts as a ‘taxable person’ within the meaning of that provision and is therefore deemed to have received the services in question from those rights holders before providing them to the end user itself. In such a case, that organisation is required to issue invoices in its own name to the end user containing the royalties collected from the latter, including value added tax (VAT). The copyright holders are, in turn, required to issue to the collective management organisation invoices including VAT for the services supplied in respect of the royalties received.






(1)  OJ C 372, 4.11.2019.