On Thursday 21 March, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that Italian legislation excluding independent companies established in another Member State from copyright management was incompatible with EU law, in a case (aff. C-10/22) between LEA, a collective management organisation under Italian law authorised to manage copyright, and Jamendo, an independent copyright management company under Luxembourg law.
The latter was ordered to cease its activities in Italy, as Italian legislation restricts the activity of intermediation in copyright matters to the Italian Society of Authors and Publishers and other authorised collective management bodies.
The Court of Rome, hearing this case on behalf of LEA, asked the Court of Justice “whether the EU Directive on the collective management of copyright precludes legislation of a Member State which generally and absolutely excludes the possibility of independent for independent management entities established in another Member State to provide their services”.
In its judgment, the Court found that this legislation “constitutes a restriction on the freedom to provide services”: “although that restriction may in principle be justified by the overriding reason of protecting intellectual property rights, it is not proportionate”, states the CJEU.
Freedom of access to the relevant market is hampered by Italian legislation in the case of copyright management.
Consequently, the Court “finds that the contested Italian legislation is not compatible with European Union law”.
Link to the judgment: https://aeur.eu/f/bgc (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)