Still Laughing? The CJEU Hands Down Final Judgment In Deckmyn Parody Case

Following on from the Advocate General's opinion in the case of Johan Deckmyn [C-201/13] (see our earlier client alert here), the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) handed down its full judgment in the case on 3rd September 2014. The ruling confirms that the concept of parody must be regarded as an autonomous concept of EU law and that a parody has two essential characteristics: (i) it must evoke existing work whilst being noticeably different from it; and (ii) it must constitute an expression of humour or mockery. However, the ruling surprised some by indicating that a parodist may not be able to take advantage of the exception where the parody conveys a discriminatory message.