The quotation exception under EU copyright law

Abstract

A fundamental act of permissible use in copyright law, quotation, has a relatively broad scope under EU copyright as the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has affirmed. Developing a principle-based perspective on the theoretical justification underpinning copyright protection as a dialogue between authors and users, cases C-469/17 Funke Medien, C-476/17 Pelham, and C-516/17 Spiegel Online explain that exceptions and limitations to copyright, including the quotation exception, crystallize the balance between copyright and fundamental freedoms, such as freedom of speech. External application of fundamental freedoms as defensive rules is hence not necessary. A natural unfolding of the implications of the concept of the balance between copyright and fundamental rights is that the CJEU affirmed the integral status of copyright exceptions and limitations as user rights. This is a ground-breaking insight on the legal nature of these defensive rules under EU copyright law, aligning with scholarly consensus toward the recognition of copyright user rights and departing from national precedents denying the existence of rights of the users. The present contribution discusses the scope of permissible quotation under EU copyright, investigates the legal nature of this provision and, going beyond current scholarship, inquires the contextual framework and legal implications emerging from the judicial declaration of the relevant legal provision as a right of the users of copyright protected works.