CJ Asked If Private Copy From Illegal Source Is Legal

On 21 September 2012, the Dutch Supreme Court submitted pre-judicial questions to the EU Court of Justice ("CJ") in ACI v. Stichting De Thuiskopie. For copyright holders, this means a new phase in the struggle for compensation for private copying from illegal sources. The Supreme Court has asked the CJ among other things to clarify whether the private copying exemption includes copies derived from illegal sources and, if not, whether Member States nevertheless may take copies from illegal sources into account for determining a fair compensation for copyright holders.

Background

According to Article 5(2)(b) of the EU Copyright Directive¹ (the "Directive"), copyright owners are entitled to a fair compensation if private copying is exempt from copyright protection by national law. In the Netherlands, copyright holders are compensated by a system in which manufacturers of carriers are required to impose levies on their products. The revenues of these levies are paid