The European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) handed down an important decision in the case of ACI Adam C-452/12, which provides a unifying interpretation of the question of the (un)lawfulness of reproductions for private use when made from illegal sources.
1. Facts of the dispute
The basis for the decision was a dispute between companies importing and manufacturing blank data media such as CDs and CD-Rs, and two foundations, the first entrusted with the collection and distribution of fees payable by the manufacturers and importers of media intended for the reproduction of literary, scientific or artistic works for the purpose of private use, and the other responsible for determining the amount of this fee.
The companies concerned did not agree with the fee amount and felt that it unfairly reflected the harm that may be suffered by copyright holders as a result of copies made from illegal sources.
2. ECJ ruling
The dispute was therefore brought before the ECJ, which concluded that Member States should prohibit reproductions made for private use from illegal sources by law, but at the same time also set fees for blank media that do not reflect illegal copying of copyrighted works.
It further stated that support for the dissemination of culture must not be conducted at the expense of strict copyright protection or for the price of tolerating the illegal distribution of counterfeit or pirated imitations (copies).
The ECJ therefore held that national legislation which makes no distinction between private copies made from legal sources and those made from counterfeited or pirated sources cannot be tolerated, which is also the case in the Czech Republic.
3. Impact of the ruling on the Czech Republic
This is a ground-breaking decision for the Czech Republic, where the question of whether it was possible to make copies of copyrighted works (e.g. films, music) for private use from illegal sources was also a matter of contention. If someone uploaded illegal content to various file storage sites, they were guilty of infringing copyright. However, this was not as straightforward in the case of someone downloading the same content in view of Section 30 of Act No. 121/2000 Coll. governing so-called free use.
The ECJ ruling addresses this issue and informs the general public that if drawing from an illegal source, it must be mindful of the potential consequences of breaching the law.
4. Conclusion
Therefore, to sum up, copies of copyrighted work will still be permitted, however this will only be possible from legally distributed (acquired) copies of the work or the work itself.
The ECJ makes it clear that the illegal distribution of copyrighted works cannot be tolerated, even if compensated by “payoffs” for blank media and possibly cloud drives in the future.
On the other hand, the “payoff” fee for blank media should be significantly adjusted. Furthermore, the system of fees must ensure a reasonable balance between the rights and interests of authors and the rights and interests of the users of the objects of protection according to the ECJ.
For more information, please contact our office’s partner, Mgr. Jiří Kučera, e-mail: jkucera@kuceralegal.cz; tel.: + 420 604 242 241.