Official Journal of the European Union

C series

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C/2024/7290

16.12.2024

(Case C-227/23, (1) Kwantum Nederland and Kwantum België)

(Reference for a preliminary ruling - Intellectual and industrial property - Copyright - Directive 2001/29/EC - Articles 2 to 4 - Exclusive rights - Copyright protection for subject matter of applied art the country of origin of which is not a Member State - Berne Convention - Article 2(7) - Criterion of material reciprocity - Division of competences between the European Union and its Member States - Application by the Member States of the criterion of material reciprocity - First paragraph of Article 351 TFEU)

(C/2024/7290)

Language of the case: Dutch

Referring court

Parties to the main proceedings

Appellants: Kwantum Nederland BV, Kwantum België BV

Respondent: Vitra Collections AG

Operative part of the judgment

1.A situation in which a company claims copyright protection for a subject matter of applied art marketed in a Member State, provided that that subject matter may be classified as a ‘work’ within the meaning of Directive 2001/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 May 2001 on the harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the information society, falls within the material scope of EU law.

2.Article 2(a) and Article 4(1) of Directive 2001/29, read in conjunction with Article 17(2) and Article 52(1) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, must be interpreted as meaning that, as EU law currently stands, they preclude Member States from applying, in national law, the criterion of material reciprocity laid down in the second sentence of Article 2(7) of the Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, signed in Berne on 9 September 1886 (Paris Act of 24 July 1971), as amended on 28 September 1979, in respect of a work of applied art the country of origin of which is a third country and the author of which is a national of a third country. It is for the EU legislature alone, in accordance with Article 52(1) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, to provide, by means of EU legislation, whether the grant in the European Union of the rights laid down in Article 2(a) and Article 4(1) of that directive should be limited.

3.The first paragraph of Article 351 TFEU must be interpreted as not permitting a Member State to apply, by way of derogation from the provisions of EU law, the criterion of material reciprocity contained in the second sentence of Article 2(7) of the Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, signed in Berne on 9 September 1886 (Paris Act of 24 July 1971), as amended on 28 September 1979, in respect of a work the country of origin of which is the United States of America.

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(1) OJ C 252, 17.7.2023.

ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2024/7290/oj

ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)

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END