Brussels, 22/01/2015 (Agence Europe) - From the moment a protected photograph can be accessed on an internet site in a member state that state's national courts have jurisdiction to rule on any infringement of copyright, no matter where the photo in question was posted, states the Court of Justice of the EU in a judgment (case C-441/13) delivered on Thursday 22 January.
In this case, protected photographs were put online on a German company's internet site without prior permission and without giving any indication with regard to copyright. The photographer who holds the rights went to court in Austria to claim damages. The German company, however, claimed that the photographs published on its site were not intended for Austria and, given this, the Austrian court had no jurisdiction.
The European judges did not take the same view. Where it was decided to publish the photos on the internet site and where the uploading took place is irrelevant in this instance, they say. The same is not true for damages, since these took place in Austria, the work in question being accessible in that country. It is the accessibility that is the deciding factor here, not whether the site is directed at Austria or not, the domain of the site (“.de” in this case) being, therefore, equally irrelevant. However, while the Austrian court has jurisdiction in this case, it jurisdiction extends only to damages suffered in Austria and to those in other member states, whose courts have to assess the infringement of copyright and determine the nature of the damages suffered on national territory. (JK)