CJEU says distribution rights extend to advertisements
Europe’s highest court has ruled that, under the Information Society Directive, copyright owners can prohibit the sale of protected works in a dispute concerning the use of furniture designs used in advertisements.
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled today (May 13) on a case between German furniture designer Knoll International and Italian designer Dimensione Direct Sales.
It concerned adverts that were produced by Dimensione in newspapers, magazines and on its website between 2005 and 2006.
The adverts showed images of furniture that Knoll believed were its own protected designs.
In response, Knoll sued Dimensione at the Regional Court of Hamburg claiming it had infringed its copyright.
Knoll requested that the court stop Dimensione from advertising Knoll’s goods in Germany. The court ruled in favour of Knoll.
Dimensione appealed against the judgment, but its appeal was rejected by the Higher Regional Court of Hamburg.
It then took the case to Germany’s Supreme Court, the Bundesgerichtshof, which referred the case to the CJEU in September 2013.
The supreme court asked the CJEU whether Article 4 of the Information Society Directive meant that copyright owners had an exclusive right to “offer the original or copies of the work to the public for sale”?
Article 4 of the directive covers “distribution rights” and grants copyright owners the right to authorise or prohibit the sale of protected works.
The supreme court also asked whether that right covers advertising and if the work is still considered to be infringed in a third party’s advert even if that third party has not sold any of the items as a result of an advert.
The CJEU ruled that article 4 does allow right owners to prohibit the use of copyright protected works in advertisements and that a work is still considered to be infringed even if it has not been established that any of the works were sold.
The court said: “Article 4 ... must be interpreted as meaning that it allows a holder of an exclusive right to distribute a protected work and to prevent an offer for sale or a targeted advertisement of the original copy of that work.”
The ruling is consistent with the opinion of Advocate General Pedro Cruz Villalón who said in December the directive must ensure right owners can prevent the sale of goods without their consent.
The case will now return to the Supreme Court.
Dimensione declined to comment on the case.
Knoll did not respond to a request for a comment at the time of publication.
