The sale of “filmspelers” a multimedia player, which by way of pre-installed add-ons, enables content on the internet to be streamed (films, videos, etc.) but which is available without the authorisation of the rights holders to watch them easily and without charge on a television screen. This constitutes a “Communication to the public” of such content under the terms of the directive on “Copyright in the Information Society (2001/29/EC) and in this regard could constitute an infringement of copyright.
This is the decision made on Wednesday 26 April by the European Court of Justice in case C-527/15). The European judges also explained that the temporary reproduction on this kind of media player of protected works obtained by streaming on sites broadcasting without authorisation is not exempt from the law on reproduction and therefore constitutes a violation of copyright.
The Court was asked by a Dutch court regarding the legality of sales and the use of this kind of device. The applicant asserts that the sale of this media player in question constituted “a communication to the public” under the terms of the directive, in breach of Dutch legislation transposing the directive.
The court found in favour of the latter. It rules that in this case, the notion of “Communication to the public” included in the directive should be interpreted in a broad sense. The seller is not limited to providing a simple physical device for enabling communication but has deliberately integrated this into the pre-installs of a multimedia player so that the user can freely access on the television screen, content streamed from the Internet by simply selecting hyperlinks on their screen. Providing these applications is also carried out with the goal of making a profit and the price of the media player is paid to obtain direct access to protected works available on streaming sites without the authorisation of the rights holders.
With regard to the use of these devices, the Court considers that given the advertising carried out which explicitly mentions the opportunities contained within the multimedia player to access content by way of its add-ons and pre-installs, “the Court finds that the purchaser of such a player accesses a free and unauthorised offer of protected works deliberately and in full knowledge of the circumstances”. (Original version in French by Francesco Gariazzo)