The right of communication to the public : an essential right in a complex legal sphere

Abstract

This paper is an in-depth analysis on the exclusive right of communication to the public. This analysis will be done by looking not just at the current provisions found in European Union Law relating to the right itself, but also at several cases of the Court of Justice of the European Union as well as different articles written by legal professionals and academics alike. The main aim of this study is to understand the right through its development along the years as a result of the decisions made by the Court. The different aspects of the right, such as the act of communication, the notions of public and new public as well as how the right functions vis-à-vis modern technologies and business models such as hyperlinking, embedding and online streaming will be looked into so as to grasp a realistic and complete understanding of the right as it operates in the real world.