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Document C2006/331/04

Case C-306/05: Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber) of 7 December 2006 (reference for a preliminary ruling from the Audiencia Provincial de Barcelona — Spain) — Sociedad General de Autores y Editores de España (SGAE) v Rafael Hoteles SA (Copyright and related rights in the information society — Directive 2001/29/EC — Article 3 — Concept of communication to the public — Works communicated by means of television sets installed in hotel rooms)

JO C 331, 30.12.2006, p. 3–3 (ES, CS, DA, DE, ET, EL, EN, FR, IT, LV, LT, HU, NL, PL, PT, SK, SL, FI, SV)

30.12.2006   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 331/3


Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber) of 7 December 2006 (reference for a preliminary ruling from the Audiencia Provincial de Barcelona — Spain) — Sociedad General de Autores y Editores de España (SGAE) v Rafael Hoteles SA

(Case C-306/05) (1)

(Copyright and related rights in the information society - Directive 2001/29/EC - Article 3 - Concept of communication to the public - Works communicated by means of television sets installed in hotel rooms)

(2006/C 331/04)

Language of the case: Spanish

Referring court

Audiencia Provincial de Barcelona

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: Sociedad General de Autores y Editores de España (SGAE)

Defendant: Rafael Hoteles SA

Re:

Reference for a preliminary ruling — Audiencia Provincial de Barcelona — Interpretation of Directive 2001/29/EEC 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 (OJ 2001 L 167, page 10) — Meaning of ‘act of communication to the public’ (Article 3 of the directive) — Meaning of ‘strictly domestic location’ — Works made available on television sets installed in hotel rooms

Operative part of the judgment

1.

While the mere provision of physical facilities does not as such amount to communication within the meaning of Directive 2001/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 May 2001 on the harmonisation of copyright and related rights in the information society, the distribution of a signal by means of television sets by a hotel to customers staying in its rooms, whatever technique is used to transmit the signal, constitutes communication to the public within the meaning of Article 3(1) of that directive.

2.

The private nature of hotel rooms does not preclude the communication of a work by means of television sets from constituting communication to the public within the meaning of Article 3(1) of Directive 2001/29.


(1)  OJ C 257, 15.10.2005.


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