On Thursday 10 November, the European Court of Justice concluded in case C-174/15 relating to public libraries that the lending of an electronic book (e-book) may, under certain conditions, be treated in the same way as the lending of a traditional book.
As Advocate General Maciej Szpunar had argued last June (see EUROPE 11574), the Court also finally held that it was necessary to have a dynamic interpretation of the 2006 directive on rental and lending rights that adapts to the developing copyright situation. This directive stipulates that exclusive rights to authorise or prohibit renting or lending belong to the author of the work in question.
The Court therefore considers that this directive, although this was not explicitly intended by the European legislator, should apply to e-books. The notion of “lending” within the meaning of the directive should therefore cover the lending of e-books and the public lending exception, which provides for fair remuneration for authors, should also apply to this kind of book.
It should be pointed out that the Court examined the “one copy, one user” model. According to this model, a single copy of an e-book can be uploaded and that this copy cannot be used after a certain period.
The Court also considered that it was legal for national legislation to demand that an e-book made available by a public library must have been put into circulation by a first sale or other transfer of ownership of that copy in the EU by the holder of the right of distribution to the public or with that holder’s consent.
The Court also sought to highlight that it is prohibited for a public library to make a copy of a book available in digital form when this copy has been obtained from an illegal source. (Original version in French by Jan Kordys)