Success Before the CJEU

On 25 January 2017 the CJEU issued a judgment in case C‑367/15 concerning the compatibility of the provision of the Polish law on copyright and related rights which allows lump sum damages for infringement of copyrights in the amount corresponding to twice the appropriate licence fee.

The CJEU judgment was issued in reply to a question referred by the Polish Supreme Court for a preliminary ruling in the action filed by the Polish Filmmakers Association (SFP), which was represented, both in national proceedings and before the CJEU, by our partners: Professor Elżbieta Traple and Wojciech Kulis (Attorney-at-Law). In line with the position presented by the SFP representatives, the provision of Article 79(1)(3)(b) of the Act of 4 February 1994 – Law on copyright and related rights was considered compatible with Article 13 of Directive 2004/48/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on the enforcement of intellectual property rights. What is interesting in that case, the position of the CJEU was significantly different than the opinion presented by the Advocate General.

As regards the model of claims for infringement of copyrights, this is undoubtedly a significant judgment, not only for Poland, but also for the other Member States of the European Union which allows claims for damages as a lump sum.

We also recommend the article “Copyrights: After All Pirates Will Pay Twice as Much” with a commentary by Wojciech Kulis, Attorney-at-Law, published today by Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.

The CJEU judgment is available here.