Application of YouTube/Cyando by Dutch Supreme Court: Usenet operator not liable for copyright infringement

Abstract

Abstract The Dutch Supreme Court recently applied the criteria for online intermediary liability as formulated by the Court of Justice of the European Union in its YouTube/Cyando ruling (joined cases C-682/18 and C-683/18). The Supreme Court ruled that the operator of a Usenet platform, where copyright-protected works were shared illegally, was not liable for copyright infringement. In particular, the Supreme Court held that there was no intervention by the operator that led to an act of a communication to the public being performed, because the operator had not contributed to giving access to the copyright-protected works.