Source: https://aziin5teens.blogspot.com/2016/10/the-commission-dsms-and-cjeu-case-law.html
Timestamp: 2019-04-21 15:00:25+00:00

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The Commission's DSMS and CJEU case law: what relationship?
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As reported by this blog, on 14 September last the EU Commission unveiled its second copyright package, ie a new set of proposals [the first being the proposed regulation on cross-border content portability in December 2015] aimed at improving the existing EU copyright framework as part of its Digital Single Market Strategy (DSMS).
Among the contents of the package, so far what has attracted the greatest degree of attention is the Commission's proposal for a directive on copyright in the Digital Single Market (DSM Directive).
Much has been said on the ambitiousness (or lack thereof) and merits (or demerits, depending on one's own perspective) of relevant provisions, notably those regarding new mandatory exceptions [Articles 3 to 6], a new related right in press publications [Article 11], and the so called value gap [Article 13].
Discussion has been focusing on the relationship between the new proposed directive and the existing body of legislation [for instance: is Article 13 compatible with the Ecommerce Directive? The DSM Directive is silent as regards how it relates to this piece of EU legislation] and the economic/legal rationale of the various initiatives [do we really need a new related right for press publishers, and will it change anything?].
The DSM Directive and the CJEU: why asking?
What however appears to have been left partly out of the debate is what relationship the DSM Directive has and will have with the existing body of case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).
The question is worth addressing for two main reasons, I think.
First, because the DSM Directive itself attempts a codification of CJEU case law. Examples are Recital 38 [with regard to the 2009 decision in L'Oréal, noted here] and Recital 36 [with regard to the 2015 decision in Reprobel, noted here].
Secondly, because the DSM refers to key concepts but fails to define them. This is particularly the case of 'communication to the public'. For instance, from Recital 38 it is apparent that an obligation for hosting providers that "store and provide access to the public to copyright protected works or other subject-matter uploaded by their users" to conclude licensing agreements with rightholders arises when they perform an act of communication to the public. Similarly, with regard to the press publishers' right, Recital 33 clarifies (?) that this new related right would not go as far as including "acts of hyperlinking which do not constitute communication to the public" within its scope.
re-write certain CJEU case law?
(1) A "codification" of existing CJEU case law: a good attempt?
Starting from the first question, while in principle it is laudable that policy action considers and addresses the implications of judicial decisions, in the case of the DSM Directive this attempt may prove controversial.
Recital 38 states that "[i]n respect of Article 14 [of the Ecommerce Directive], it is necessary to verify whether the service provider plays an active role, including by optimising the presentation of the uploaded works or subject-matter or promoting them, irrespective of the nature of the means used therefor."
Acts of "communication to the public"
Turning to the second point, the DSM Directive refers extensively to a concept that the InfoSoc Directive itself fails to define, ie "communication to the public".
One could wonder whether in the case of hosting platforms, it is the host or rather the user that plays such indispensable role to give access to a protected work.
As I noted here, in light of certain decisions of the CJEU and national courts alike, it may be argued that – in the case of a copyright work made available through the service of a passive online intermediary (host) – the latter would not commit an act of (unauthorised) communication to the public (potentially giving rise to primary liability for copyright infringement), because the role that is ‘indispensable’ in the whole process is the one of the third-party/uploader, rather than that of the hosting provider.
All in all the DSM Directive fails to define what is to be intended by "communication to the public" and the questions becomes whether this would raise uncertainties when determining when a host provider is required - as opposed to merely 'invited' - to conclude licensing agreements.
Unlike legislative proposals advanced in the past, from the DSM Directive it is clear that EU legislature is to give account not only of existing legislation but also CJEU case law and its impact.
While this demonstrates both the relevance of the CJEU in shaping the EU copyright regime and the attention that different EU institutions devote to each other's activity, it also raises questions regarding the substance of such interplay and resulting 'power struggles'.
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