«(Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations – Directive 92/100/EEC – Copyright – Remuneration of authors in the event of public lending of their literary or artistic works)»

Approximation of laws – Copyright and related rights – Rental right and lending right for protected works – Directive 92/100 – Remuneration of authors in the event of public lending – Possibility for Member States to exempt certain categories of establishments – Scope (Council Directive 92/100, Art. 5(3)) Article 5(3) of Directive 92/100 on rental right and lending right and on certain rights related to copyright in the field of intellectual property, under which Member States may exempt certain categories of establishments from the payment of the remuneration for public lending provided for in paragraphs 1 and 2 of that article, authorises but does not oblige a Member State to exempt certain categories of establishments. Consequently, if the circumstances prevailing in a Member State do not enable a valid distinction to be drawn between categories of establishments, that Member State must, in order to transpose the directive correctly, impose the obligation to pay the remuneration in question on all the establishments concerned.see para. 20

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT (Sixth Chamber) 16 October 2003 (1)

((Failure by a Member State to fulfil its obligations – Directive 92/100/EEC – Copyright – Remuneration of authors in the event of public lending of their literary or artistic works))

In Case C-433/02,

applicant,

v

defendant,

APPLICATION for a declaration that, by failing to apply the provisions on the public lending right provided for in Council Directive 92/100/EEC of 19 November 1992 on rental right and lending right and on certain rights related to copyright in the field of intellectual property (OJ 1992 L 346, p. 61), the Kingdom of Belgium has failed to fulfil its obligations under Articles 1 and 5 of that directive,

THE COURT (Sixth Chamber),,

composed of: J.-P. Puissochet, President of the Chamber, R. Schintgen, C. Gulmann (Rapporteur), V. Skouris and J.N. Cunha Rodrigues, Judges,

Advocate General: P. Léger,

having regard to the report of the Judge-Rapporteur,

having decided, after hearing the Advocate General, to proceed to judgment without an Opinion,

gives the following

Community legislation

...

...

...

National legislation

On those grounds,

THE COURT (Sixth Chamber)

hereby:

Puissochet

Schintgen

Gulmann

Skouris

Cunha Rodrigues

Delivered in open court in Luxembourg on 16 October 2003.

R. Grass

V. Skouris

Registrar

President