Copyright: Case Note: C-293/98 Entidad de Gestion de Derechos de los Productores Audiovisuales v Hostelaria Asturiana SA

This was a preliminary reference from the Oviedo Court of First Instance under article 234 of the Treaty of Rome.   

The European Court held that the Term Directive (Council Directive 93/83/EEC of 27 September 1993 on the co-ordination of certain rules concerning copyright and rights related to copyright applicable to satellite broadcasting and cable re-transmission) had no application to a claim against the defendant hotel by a collecting society for injunctions to restrain re-diffusion of satellite television signals to hotel rooms without the society's consent.

The Directive neither requires member states to introduce a specific cable re-transmission right nor defines the scope of such right. They are obliged merely to ensure compliance with relevant copyrights and related rights when programmes from other member states are re-transmitted within their territory. Interestingly, the Commission submitted that the re-diffusion of television programmes to a large number of rooms might fall within arts 11 (1) (ii) and 11bis (1) (ii) of the Bern Convention which the Spanish government had an international obligation to enforce.