Court of Justice of the European Union

Infopaq International A/S v Danske Dagblades Forening (Case C-5/08)

Case C-5/0820091 min read
The case in brief30-second read
Facts
Infopaq ran a media-monitoring service that scanned newspaper articles and stored and printed 11-word extracts around search words.
Issue
Whether storing and printing 11-word extracts is reproduction in part under the InfoSoc Directive 2001/29.
Held
Storing and printing an 11-word extract can be reproduction in part if the extract contains elements that express the author's own intellectual creation. Printing it out is not a transient act, so rightholders' consent was needed.
Principle
Even short extracts are protected if they express the author's own intellectual creation.
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Facts

  • Infopaq ran a media-monitoring service that scanned newspaper articles and stored and printed 11-word extracts around search words.

Issue

  1. Whether storing and printing 11-word extracts is reproduction in part under the InfoSoc Directive 2001/29.

Held

  • Storing and printing an 11-word extract can be reproduction in part if the extract contains elements that express the author's own intellectual creation. Printing it out is not a transient act, so rightholders' consent was needed.

Cite this

Citation

Infopaq International A/S v Danske Dagblades Forening (Case C-5/08) Case C-5/08

Reported: https://www.bailii.org/eu/cases/EUECJ/2009/C508.html (EU case; not on IK or SCI). This is an educational summary, not the judgment itself. Cite the reported version in professional or academic work.