Monday 25 August 2014

"Direct injection" question for CJEU: is it a "communication to the public"?

The UK's Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has circulated details of yet another copyright question which has been referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union for a preliminary ruling, Case C-325/14: SBS Belgium. According to the IPO:
We have received notification of a new case referred to the Court of Justice: C-325/14: SBS BELGIUM, a request for a preliminary ruling on the interpretation of the Information Society Directive 2001/29/EC as regards “direct injection”. The question referred to the European Court of Justice is: 
Does a broadcasting organisation which transmits its programmes exclusively via the technique of direct injection … make a communication to the public within the meaning of Article 3 of Directive 2001/29 … on the harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the information society?
This case and the questions referred to the court can also be viewed on our website at:

http://www.ipo.gov.uk/pro-policy/policy-information/ecj/ecj-2014.htm 
If you would like to comment on this case please e-mail policy@ipo.gov.uk by 4th September 2014 ...
This blogger understands that the term "direct injection" refers to the situation where a broadcasting company connects to the network of one or more cable companies directly. The programme in question is not first broadcast via ether or satellite and then retransmitted via cable, as is usually the case, but is broadcast for the first time via cable.

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