The EU’s highest court has ruled that the exhaustion of copyright does not apply to e-books.

In a highly-anticipated decision, issued on December 19, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) held that offering ‘second-hand’ e-books for sale qualifies as an unauthorised “communication to the public” under the 2001 InfoSoc Directive.

The court’s ruling largely follows the opinion of EU advocate general (AG) Maciej Szpunar, issued in September.

The ruling stems from a dispute involving Dutch company Tom Kabinet, which purchases e-books from both individuals and retailers and resells them online.

Two groups representing Dutch copyright owners, including authors and publishers, filed a copyright infringement lawsuit in Amsterdam against Tom Kabinet.

An appeals court based in The Hague asked the CJEU to step in, seeking clarification on Tom Kabinet’s argument that the resale of e-books was permitted under the principle of copyright exhaustion. 

Source: World IP Review