ECSA welcomes the Court of Justice's judgement on the compatibility of Article 17 of the 2019 Copyright Directive with the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights

Today, the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) delivered its long awaited judgement on the compatibility of Article 17 of the 2019 Copyright Directive with the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and its Article 11, on freedom of expression and information. Almost three years after Poland introduced its action against Article 17, the Court confirms the validity of the article in question and considers that its specific liability regime includes appropriate safeguards to ensure a fair balance between the right to freedom of expression and the right to intellectual property, including authors’ rights.

The European Composer and Songwriter Alliance (ECSA) welcomes this judgement which demonstrates that improving the remuneration of creators and fostering freedom of expression are two fundamental objectives that actually support each other, to the benefit of the society as whole. The highest EU Court also sends a signal to all EU Member States who have not yet implemented the Directive: there is no excuse nor time to lose to implement the 2019 Copyright Directive and ensure that music creators can finally be fairly remunerated for their work.