On the 26th of April, the European Court of Justice will hand down its judgment in Case C-401/19 — the Polish challenge of the fundamental rights compliance of Article 17 of the Copyright in the Digital Single Market Directive, which was adopted nearly 3 years ago in April 2019.
On the 28th of April, from 1500h to 1630 CET, we are hosting a virtual COMMUNIA salon to discuss the implications of this highly anticipated judgement and what it means for the national implementations of Article 17.
The Court’s judgement in case C-401/19 will mark an important moment in the discussions about Article 17. Not only will the Court have to decide if (elements of) Article 17 violate fundamental rights, it will also have the opportunity to issue guidance on the different approaches to implementing the provisions of Article 17, which have been taken by those member states that have implemented the article so far (and more clarity for those that have not implemented yet). Finally, the decision should also provide more clarity on the European Commission’s implementation guidance that was issued in June of last year, following an extensive stakeholder dialogue.
A recap of the arguments brought forward by the parties to the case can be found in our report from the hearing, which took place in November 2020. And our summary of the most important aspects of the AG Opinion from last July can be found here.
For this Salon we will be joined by Marco Giorello — Head of the European Commission’s Copyright Unit at DG CONNECT, João Pedro Quintais — Assistant Professor at the Institute for Information Law (IViR), University of Amsterdam, EliÅ¡ka PÃrková — Global Freedom of Expression Lead at Access Now — and Felix Reda — former MEP and project lead Control © at the Gesellschaft für Freiheitsrechte. The Salon will be moderated by Paul Keller and there will be lots of room for audience participation.
The Salon will be hosted in Zoom and it is open for everyone to attend. To join us, please register here and we will send you login details on the morning of the event.