AG Hogan advises CJEU to rule that private copying exception also applies in the cloud but that an additional private copying levy might be unavailable
Kat cloud Does the private copying exception and, with it, the fair compensation requirement under Article 5(2)(b) of the InfoSoc Directive apply to reproductions carried out by using cloud-based recording services? If so, can rightholders request the providers of such a service to impose a levy even if their customers (natural persons) have already paid one when purchasing the devices (eg, computers, smartphones, tablets) subsequently used to undertake acts of reproduction covered by that provision? These, in essence, are the issues that the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has been called upon to decide in Austro-Mechana , C-433/20 , a pending referral from Austria. IPKat readers interested in all things private copying (who’s not …) will be aware that private copying in the cloud is not an entirely novel issue for the CJEU. A few years ago, in fact, in VCAST , C-265/16 [ here ] the Court was asked questions relating to reprod...