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European Competition Law and Copyright: Where do we Stand? Where do we go?
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Benabou, Valérie Laure |
| Copyright Year | 2009 |
| Abstract | Relations between copyright and competition law2 have become commonplace for European lawyers: the impact of the landmark decisions of the Commission or of the ECJ on the subject is such that not a day passes without comments or expectations on the topic in the press: it has become a sort of ‘trendy’ subject. The condemnation of Microsoft to the highest fine ever pronounced in a competition case for abuse of a dominant position whilst using its intellectual property right shows that the encounter between the two sets of rules can be anything but superficial. Yet, the history of this relationship is not old, nor are the rationales on which it has so far been grounded unmovable. If we look back, it appears that the relationship between those two bodies of regulations in Europe has been changing since the beginning. In the very early 1960s, competition law and copyright regarded each other with mutual neutrality. Various reasons underlay this peaceful coexistence; uncertainty about the Community’s jurisdiction on copyright issues; competition law being a new concept within Europe. The key to the application of competition rules was based for a while on the distinction between the existence and exercise of the monopoly, only the latter being subject to application of competition rules. But in fact, case law went further in the neutrality attitude; even exercise of copyright by the right holder was set aside from the direct application of competition prohibitions. Comparative law reveals that a number of States more or less still ignore any head-on relationship between copyright and competition law. Most often, one notes a partitioning of legislation, which results in a lack of interpenetration between legal provisions from one field to another. Thus, the competition |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| DOI | 10.4337/9781848446007.00026 |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://www.elgaronline.com/downloadpdf/9781847203922.00027.pdf |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://doi.org/10.4337/9781848446007.00026 |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
