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CJEU - C 277/10 / Judgment

Martin Luksan v Petrus van der Let
Deciding body type
Court of Justice of the European Union
Deciding body
European Court of Justice (Third Chamber)
Typ
Decision
Decision date
09/02/2012
ECLI (European case law identifier)
ECLI:EU:C:2012:65

Charta der Grundrechte der Europäischen Union

Title II: Freedoms

Article 17 - Right to property

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  • CJEU - C 277/10 / Judgment
    Key facts of the case:
     

    Reference for a preliminary ruling — Approximation of laws — Intellectual property — Copyright and related rights — Directives 93/83/EEC, 2001/29/EC, 2006/115/EC and 2006/116/EC — Sharing of the rights to exploit a cinematographic work, by contract, between the principal director and the producer of the work — National legislation allotting those rights, exclusively and by operation of law, to the film producer — Possibility of departing from that rule by an agreement between the parties — Subsequent rights to remuneration.

    Outcome of the case:

    On those grounds, the Court (Third Chamber) hereby rules:

    1. Articles 1 and 2 of Council Directive 93/83/EEC of 27 September 1993 on the coordination of certain rules concerning copyright and rights related to copyright applicable to satellite broadcasting and cable retransmission, and Articles 2 and 3 of Directive 2001/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 May 2001 on the harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the information society in conjunction with Articles 2 and 3 of Directive 2006/115/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2006 on rental right and lending right and on certain rights related to copyright in the field of intellectual property and with Article 2 of Directive 2006/116/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2006 on the term of protection of copyright and certain related rights, must be interpreted as meaning that rights to exploit a cinematographic work such as those at issue in the main proceedings (reproduction right, satellite broadcasting right and any other right of communication to the public through the making available to the public) vest by operation of law, directly and originally, in the principal director. Consequently, those provisions must be interpreted as precluding national legislation which allocates those exploitation rights by operation of law exclusively to the producer of the work in question.
    2. European Union law must be interpreted as allowing the Member States the option of laying down a presumption of transfer, in favour of the producer of a cinematographic work, of rights to exploit the cinematographic work such as those at issue in the main proceedings (satellite broadcasting right, reproduction right and any other right of communication to the public through the making available to the public), provided that such a presumption is not an irrebuttable one precluding the principal director of that work from agreeing otherwise.
    3. European Union law must be interpreted as meaning that, in his capacity as author of a cinematographic work, the principal director thereof must be entitled, by operation of law, directly and originally, to the right to the fair compensation provided for in Article 5(2)(b) of Directive 2001/29 under the ‘private copying’ exception.
    4. European Union law must be interpreted as not allowing the Member States the option of laying down a presumption of transfer, in favour of the producer of a cinematographic work, of the right to fair compensation vesting in the principal director of that work, whether that presumption is couched in irrebuttable terms or may be departed from.
  • Paragraphs referring to EU Charter

    68) Finally, it should be pointed out that, under Article 17(1) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, everyone has the right to own, use, dispose of and bequeath his or her lawfully acquired possessions. No one may be deprived of his or her possessions, except in the public interest and in the cases and under the conditions provided for by law, subject to fair compensation being paid in good time for their loss. The use of property may be regulated by law in so far as is necessary for the general interest. Article 17(2) provides that intellectual property is to be protected.

    ...

    71) It follows from the foregoing that the provisions of Directives 93/83 and 2001/29 referred to in paragraphs 50 to 52 of the present judgment cannot be interpreted, in the light of Article 1(4) of the WIPO Copyright Treaty, as meaning that a Member State might in its national legislation, on the basis of Article 14bis of the Berne Convention and in reliance upon the power which that convention article is said to accord to it, deny the principal director the rights to exploit a cinematographic work that are at issue in the main proceedings, because such an interpretation, first, would not respect the competence of the European Union in the matter, second, would not be compatible with the aim pursued by Directive 2001/29 and, finally, would not be consistent with the requirements flowing from Article 17(2) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights guaranteeing the protection of intellectual property.