The Judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) of May 25, 2023 addresses the issue of copyright and related rights in the field of satellite broadcasting and cable distribution. Case C-290/21 arose from a dispute between the Staatlich genehmigte Gesellschaft der Autoren, Komponisten und Musikverleger Reg. Gen. mbH (AKM), an Austrian copyright collecting society, and Canal+ Luxembourg Sàrl, a satellite television operator, regarding the broadcasting in Austria of television programs via satellite.  

AKM holds a license to exploit works on Austrian territory while Canal+ offers encrypted programs from several broadcasters located in other Member States via satellite. 

The Austrian Supreme Civil and Criminal Court asked the CJEU to interpret Directive 93/83/EEC, in particular Article 1(2) thereof, in order to determine whether a satellite package provider, such as Canal+, needs authorization from copyright owners for the communication to the public via satellite of protected works, and in which Member State such authorization must be obtained.  

The CJEU concluded that, if a satellite package provider is involved in the communication to the public via satellite of protected works and needs authorization from copyright owners, such authorization must be obtained only in the Member State where the program-carrying signals are introduced into the communicationchain going to the satellite. This interpretation ensures that the authorization granted to the broadcasting entity also covers the intervention of other operators such as satellite package providers, as long as this intervention does not extend the work to a new audience not covered by the original authorization. 

In summary, the judgment clarifies that the authorization required for the communication to the public via satellite of protected works must be obtained only in the Member State of origin of the signal, thus aligning itself with the objective of harmonizing and simplifying the authorization processes in order to facilitate the cross-border broadcasting of programs via satellite within the European Union.  

  

  

  

C-290/21, JUDGMENT OF THE COURT (First Chamber) of 25 May 2023 – Staatlich genehmigte Gesellschaft der Autoren, Komponisten und Musikverleger Reg. Gen. mbH (AKM) and Canal+ Luxembourg Sàrl,