The new wave of the CJEU's copyright decisions : an analysis of its ripple effect on member states

Abstract

This dissertation analyses the CJEU’s recent pivotal copyright rulings, examining EU copyright law’s new boundaries under the InfoSoc regime from a purely doctrinal perspective. To achieve this objective, this research categorises the CJEU’s references into four streams. Chapter 1 analyses what, in the light of Cofemel, is ‘original’, thus deserves copyright protection. Chapter 2 examines the criteria for hyperlinking to infringe copyright, namely as propounded in GS Media and VG Bild-Kunst. Chapter 3 highlights the current issues surrounding online platform liability in the copyright regime, which the CJEU is yet to pronounce itself on in the highly anticipated YouTube/Cyando ruling. Chapter 4 evaluates the tensions between the fundamental freedoms and copyright holders’ interests, which have been brought to the fore in Pelham, Spiegel Online and Funke Medien. This research valuably catalogues a coherent analysis on the newly established remits of protection in EU copyright law. The findings of this research exemplify how these rulings unprecedentedly afford copyright protection to new forms of ‘works’, whilst simultaneously broadening the scope of copyright infringement, and limiting the exceptions to such infringement. To appreciate the CJEU’s impact on the development of EU copyright law, this dissertation also studies judgements delivered by Member State courts, to analyse how faithfully national courts are adopting these rulings. A number of judgements by domestic courts, namely in Germany, Italy, Sweden and the Netherlands, have interpreted and adapted these novel EU copyright principles, and continue to do so. Essentially, the rulings have largely been accepted, with marginal resistance. Understanding the current developments in EU copyright law is imperative in a Maltese context, as all CJEU preliminary references apply directly to local courts. Moreover, Member States’ copyright cases should act as guidance to Maltese courts, on how to apply EU law, and more pertinently, the CJEU’s rulings.