European Court of Justice, Renckhoff, Cordoba

[concentrik]

I read that the CJEU ruled in favour of a photographer whose photograph of a Spanish city was used by a German schoolgirl and subsequently her school website. The matter seemed to revolve around whether such use constituted a 'communication to the public' and was therefore an infringement. They decided it was.

Does this decision have any implications for students in the UK right now who may wish to use pictures on their student blog for research and criticism? I asked about such use in a previous question and was reassured that it would be considered exempt under 'fair dealing', so I wonder if this has changed because of the CJEU decision.

EDIT: Sorry, I see this is being discussed on my original thread - I wasn't aware of that, I don't get 'new post notifications'...... back to the original thread

[ATMOSBOB]

I have read a few comments about German law which differ from the UK. I think there is a difference here because it was the school which published the image. But also the article was not a review of the photographer's work.

[AndyJ]

Hi concentrik and ATMOSBOB,

Yes I agree with ATMOSBOB's analysis. The case in the German courts was argued on the basis that the use of the photograph was in support of education, although I think it was admitted at an early stage, the actual use of the photograph was purely illustrative, and formed no part of the actual analysis of the written work. It certainly wasn't claimed that the reason for including the photograph was for the purpose of criticism or review of the photograph itself. However German copyright law only permits a fairly narrow exception for educational purposes, for instance saying that

For the purpose of illustration in teaching in educational establishments, up to 15 per cent of a published work may be reproduced, distributed, made available to the public or otherwise communicated to the public on a non-commercial basis

The CJEU found that the use of the photograph did not fall within this exception, as would also have been the case under UK law.