Fair compensation for private copying: another EGEDA reference

EGEDA is no stranger to this weblog, having featured in this post on Case C-387/09 Entidad de Gestión de Derechos de los Productores Audiovisuales (EGEDA) v Magnatrading S.L., a private copying "fair compensation" reference for a preliminary ruling from the Spanish Juzgado Mercantil that was lodged on 1 October 2009 and resolved by a brief Order just over a year later.  Another EGEDA "fair compensation" reference is in the air, as a media release from the UK Intellectual Property Office tells us:

CJ case: C-470/14: EGEDA and others

We have received notification of a new case referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU): C-470/14: A reference from the Spanish Court concerning its domestic scheme for the payment of fair compensation for private copying.

The questions referred to the Court of Justice (CJ) for a preliminary ruling are:

1. Is a scheme for fair compensation for private copying compatible with Article 5(2)(b) of Directive 2001/29/EC where the scheme, taking as a basis an estimate of the harm actually caused, is financed from state resources, and the cost of compensation is therefore not borne by the users of those private copies?

2. If yes, is the scheme compatible with that provision where the total amount allocated via state resources to fair compensation for private copying has to be set within budgetary limits established for each financial year?

This case and the questions referred to the Court can also be viewed on our website at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/references-to-the-european-court-of-justice/references-to-the-european-court-of-justice-2014

If you would like to comment on this case please e-mail policy@ipo.gov.uk by 01 December 2014.

The media release adds the following information:

We understand how difficult it is to provide detailed comments in the time available. The IPO has tight time limits in which to consider and provide advice to ministers on CJ cases. In order to help us provide the right advice, we just need a short email by the deadline stating whether you think the UK should intervene and some general points about how you think we should answer the questions.

You are welcome to follow this email up with more detailed comments after the deadline, which can be taken into consideration if we have chosen to submit observations or if we decide to attend a hearing.

If you are aware of any references to the Court of Justice that are not currently included on our website, you are also welcome to send us your views. If you choose to do this, please include clear information about the case to help us to identify it.

Further information on intellectual property CJ cases can be found on our website https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/references-to-the-european-court-of-justice.