Copyright at the interface between EU law and national law: definition of “work” and “right of communication to the public”

Abstract

This paper lays out the latest developments of copyright law on EU level and their reception within the Member States, particularly in Germany. ECJ judgments on the definition of a work in copyright law and on the right of communication to the public serve to illustrate the fundamental considerations concerning the fully harmonized nature of EU law as well as the breadth of harmonization and depth of specification in individual cases. Here especially, the actively harmonizing case law of the ECJ generates considerable challenges for the individual national copyright systems. Going beyond the individual examples selected, this article addresses fundamental implications in detail and, in particular, the practical consequences of European harmonization for German law.