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PARALLEL TEXTS
La riscossione indiscriminata di un prelievo per copia privata sulla prima vendita di supporti di registrazione può, a determinate condizioni, essere compatibile con il diritto dell’Unione
Inglese tratto da:
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_CJE-13-89_en.htm
Italiano tratto da:
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_CJE-13-89_it.htm
Data documento: 11-07-2013
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The indiscriminate collection of a private copying levy on the first sale of recording media may, under certain conditions, be compatible with EU law
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La riscossione indiscriminata di un prelievo per copia privata sulla prima vendita di supporti di registrazione può, a determinate condizioni, essere compatibile con il diritto dell’Unione
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In addition, under certain conditions, there may be a rebuttable presumption that recording media sold to individuals will be used for private purposes
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Inoltre, a determinate condizioni, si può presumere, salvo prova contraria, che i supporti di registrazione venduti a privati saranno utilizzati a fini privati
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According to EU law, the Member States grant, in principle, authors, performers, producers and broadcasting organisations the exclusive right to authorise or prohibit the reproduction of their works, fixations of their performances, their phonograms, their films and fixations of their broadcasts.
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Secondo il diritto dell’Unione, gli Stati membri riconoscono, in linea di principio, agli autori, agli artisti, ai produttori ed agli organismi di diffusione radiotelevisiva il diritto esclusivo di autorizzare o vietare la riproduzione delle loro opere, delle fissazioni delle loro prestazioni artistiche, delle loro riproduzioni fonografiche, delle loro pellicole nonché delle fissazioni delle loro trasmissioni.
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However, the Member States may provide for exceptions or limitations to those exclusive rights.
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Tuttavia, gli Stati membri possono prevedere eccezioni o limitazioni a tali diritti esclusivi.
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Accordingly, they may permit, in particular, the making of private copies.
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Essi possono infatti autorizzare, segnatamente, la realizzazione di copie private.
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A Member State which avails itself of this option must, however, provide that the rightholders receive ‘fair compensation’.
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Uno Stato membro che ricorra a tale facoltà deve, tuttavia, assicurare che i titolari dei diritti ricevano un «equo compenso».
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That compensation is to compensate rightholders for the reproduction, without their authorisation, of their protected works or other protected subject-matter.
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Quest’ultimo mira ad indennizzare i titolari dei diritti per la riproduzione dello loro opere o di altri materiali protetti effettuata senza il loro consenso.
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In Austria, that fair compensation takes the form of a private copying levy which is collected on the first sale of recording media suitable for reproduction, such as blank CDs and DVDs, memory cards and MP3 players (the so-called ‘blank cassette levy’).
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In Austria, l’equo compenso assume la forma di un prelievo per copia privata che viene riscosso al momento della prima vendita di supporti di registrazione idonei alla riproduzione, come i CD ed i DVD vergini, le schede di memoria ed i lettori MP3 (cosiddetto prelievo di «remunerazione per cassette vergini»).
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Austro-Mechana, an Austrian copyright collecting society, brought an action against Amazon before the Handelsgericht Wien (Commercial Court, Vienna, Austria) for the payment of the blank cassette levy for recording media sold in Austria from 2002 to 2004.
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Austro-Mechana, una società austriaca di gestione collettiva di diritti d’autore, ha citato in giudizio Amazon dinanzi allo Handelsgericht Wien (tribunale di commercio di Vienna, Austria) ai fini del pagamento della remunerazione per cassette vergini per i supporti di registrazione venduti in Austria tra il 2002 ed il 2004.
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It claimed an amount of €1 856 275 for the first half of 2004 and sought an order requiring Amazon to provide the accounting data necessary for it to quantify its claim for payment for the remainder of that period.
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Essa ha chiesto il pagamento di un importo pari a EUR 1 856 275 per il primo semestre 2004, nonché l’adozione di un’ingiunzione nei confronti di Amazon affinché essa fornisse i dati contabili necessari per poter quantificare gli importi dovuti per il resto di tale periodo.
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The Handelsgericht Wien granted the application for an order to produce accounts and reserved its decision on the claim for payment.
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Il tribunale di commercio ha accolto tale domanda d’ingiunzione ed ha riservato la propria decisione sulla domanda di pagamento.
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That judgment was upheld on appeal.
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Tale sentenza è stata confermata in appello.
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Amazon, which is of the view that the Austrian blank cassette levy is, for various reasons, contrary to EU law, brought the matter before the Oberster Gerichtshof (Supreme Court, Austria). That court seeks a ruling from the Court of Justice on the interpretation of the relevant provisions of EU law.
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Amazon, secondo cui la remunerazione per cassette vergini austriaca, sotto diversi profili, è contraria al diritto dell’Unione, ha quindi agito dinanzi all’Oberster Gerichtshof (Corte suprema, Austria), il quale interroga la Corte di giustizia sull’interpretazione delle pertinenti disposizioni del diritto dell’Unione.
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The indiscriminate collection in Austria of the blank cassette levy on the first sale of recording media and the possibility of reimbursement in certain cases
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Sul fatto che la remunerazione per cassette vergini sia riscossa, in Austria, indiscriminatamente, sulla prima vendita di un supporto di registrazione e che esista la possibilità di farsi rimborsare in taluni casi
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The Court observes in this connection that EU law does not allow the private copying levy to be collected in cases where the intended use is clearly not the making of private copies.
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La Corte rammenta che il diritto dell’Unione non consente di riscuotere il prelievo per copia privata nei casi in cui l’uso manifestamente non sia volto alla realizzazione di copie del genere.
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However, under certain conditions, EU law does not preclude such a system of a general levy with the option of reimbursement in cases where the intended use is not the making of private copies.
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Tuttavia, a determinate condizioni, il diritto dell’Unione non osta ad un sistema siffatto di riscossione generale accompagnato dalla possibilità di rimborso nei casi in cui l’uso non sia volto alla realizzazione di copie private.
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It is accordingly for the Oberster Gerichtshof to verify in the present case, taking account of the circumstances of the Austrian system and the limits imposed by EU law, whether practical difficulties justify such a system of financing of fair compensation and whether the right to reimbursement is effective and does not make repayment of the levy paid excessively difficult.
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Spetta quindi alla Corte suprema verificare nel caso di specie, tenuto conto delle circostanze proprie al sistema austriaco e dei limiti imposti dal diritto dell’Unione, se difficoltà pratiche giustifichino un siffatto sistema di finanziamento dell’equo compenso e se il diritto al rimborso sia effettivo e non renda eccessivamente difficile la restituzione del prelievo versato.
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The possibility of a presumption of private use of recording media sold to individuals
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Sulla possibilità di presumere l’utilizzazione a fini privati dei supporti di registrazione venduti a privati
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The Court finds that there may be a rebuttable presumption that individuals are using recording media for private purposes, provided that two conditions are fulfilled:
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La Corte constata che si può presumere, salvo prova contraria, che i privati utilizzino i supporti di registrazione a fini privati, a condizione che siano soddisfatti due requisiti:
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- (i) practical difficulties in determining whether the purpose of the use of media is private must warrant the establishment of such a presumption;
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- i) difficoltà pratiche legate alla determinazione della finalità privata dell’uso dei supporti devono giustificare la previsione di una presunzione siffatta;
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(ii) that presumption must not result in the imposition of the private copying levy in cases where those media are clearly used for non-private purposes.
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ii) tale presunzione non deve condurre ad imporre il prelievo per copia privata in casi in cui tali supporti sono manifestamente utilizzati a fini non privati.
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The payment of half of the income from blank cassettes not directly to those entitled to fair compensation but to social and cultural institutions set up for their benefit
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Sul fatto che la metà dei proventi della remunerazione per cassette vergini sia versata non già direttamente agli aventi diritto all’equo compenso, bensì ad enti sociali e culturali istituiti a loro favore
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The Court observes that such payment does not allow the right to fair compensation, or the private copying levy intended to finance it, to be excluded, provided that the social and cultural establishments actually benefit those entitled and the detailed arrangements for the operation of such establishments are not discriminatory, which it is for the Oberster Gerichtshof to verify.
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La Corte osserva che tale fatto non consente di escludere il diritto all’equo compenso, o il prelievo per copia privata destinato a finanziarlo, a condizione che gli enti sociali e culturali operino effettivamente a favore degli aventi diritto e che le modalità di funzionamento di tali enti non siano discriminatorie, il che deve essere verificato dalla Corte suprema.
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No account taken of a private copying levy already paid in another Member State
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Sulla mancata presa in considerazione di un prelievo per copia privata già versato in un altro Stato membro
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The Court’s answer is that the obligation to pay a levy such as the blank cassette levy may not be excluded by reason of the fact that a comparable levy has already been paid in another Member State.
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La Corte risponde che l’obbligo di versare un prelievo come la remunerazione per cassette vergini non può essere escluso in ragione del fatto che un prelievo analogo è già stato versato in un altro Stato membro.
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A person who has previously paid that levy in a Member State which does not have territorial competence to collect it may request its repayment in accordance with its national law.
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Infatti, il soggetto che ha precedentemente versato tale prelievo in uno Stato membro che non era territorialmente competente a riscuoterlo può chiedergliene il rimborso, conformemente al suo diritto nazionale.
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NOTE:
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IMPORTANTE:
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A reference for a preliminary ruling allows the courts and tribunals of the Member States, in disputes which have been brought before them, to refer questions to the Court of Justice about the interpretation of European Union law or the validity of a European Union act.
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Il rinvio pregiudiziale consente ai giudici degli Stati membri, nell'ambito di una controversia della quale sono investiti, di interpellare la Corte in merito all’interpretazione del diritto dell’Unione o alla validità di un atto dell’Unione.
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The Court of Justice does not decide the dispute itself.
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La Corte non risolve la controversia nazionale.
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It is for the national court or tribunal to dispose of the case in accordance with the Court’s decision, which is similarly binding on other national courts or tribunals before which a similar issue is raised.
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Spetta al giudice nazionale risolvere la causa conformemente alla decisione della Corte.Tale decisione vincola egualmente gli altri giudici nazionali ai quali venga sottoposto un problema simile.
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LISTEN WITH READSPEAKER
The indiscriminate collection of a private copying levy on the first sale
of recording media may, under certain conditions, be compatible with EU law
In addition, under certain conditions, there may be a rebuttable
presumption that recording media sold to individuals will be used for private
purposes
According to EU law, the Member States grant, in principle, authors,
performers, producers and broadcasting organisations the exclusive right to
authorise or prohibit the reproduction of their works, fixations of their
performances, their phonograms, their films and fixations of their broadcasts.
However, the Member States may provide for exceptions or limitations to
those exclusive rights.
Accordingly, they may permit, in particular, the making of private
copies.
A Member State which avails itself of this option must, however,
provide that the rightholders receive ‘fair compensation’.
That compensation is to compensate rightholders for the reproduction,
without their authorisation, of their protected works or other protected
subject-matter.
In Austria, that fair compensation takes the form of a private copying
levy which is collected on the first sale of recording media suitable for
reproduction, such as blank CDs and DVDs, memory cards and MP3 players (the
so-called ‘blank cassette levy’).
Austro-Mechana, an Austrian copyright collecting society, brought an
action against Amazon before the Handelsgericht Wien (Commercial Court, Vienna,
Austria) for the payment of the blank cassette levy for recording media sold in
Austria from 2002 to 2004.
It claimed an amount of €1 856 275 for the first half of 2004 and
sought an order requiring Amazon to provide the accounting data necessary for it
to quantify its claim for payment for the remainder of that period.
The Handelsgericht Wien granted the application for an order to produce
accounts and reserved its decision on the claim for payment.
That judgment was upheld on appeal.
Amazon, which is of the view that the Austrian blank cassette levy is,
for various reasons, contrary to EU law, brought the matter before the Oberster
Gerichtshof (Supreme Court, Austria). That court seeks a ruling from the Court
of Justice on the interpretation of the relevant provisions of EU law.
The indiscriminate collection in Austria of the blank cassette levy on
the first sale of recording media and the possibility of reimbursement in
certain cases
The Court observes in this connection that EU law does not allow the
private copying levy to be collected in cases where the intended use is clearly
not the making of private copies.
However, under certain conditions, EU law does not preclude such a
system of a general levy with the option of reimbursement in cases where the
intended use is not the making of private copies.
It is accordingly for the Oberster Gerichtshof to verify in the present
case, taking account of the circumstances of the Austrian system and the limits
imposed by EU law, whether practical difficulties justify such a system of
financing of fair compensation and whether the right to reimbursement is
effective and does not make repayment of the levy paid excessively difficult.
The possibility of a presumption of private use of recording media sold
to individuals
The Court finds that there may be a rebuttable presumption that
individuals are using recording media for private purposes, provided that two
conditions are fulfilled:
- (i) practical difficulties in determining whether the purpose of the
use of media is private must warrant the establishment of such a presumption;
(ii) that presumption must not result in the imposition of the private
copying levy in cases where those media are clearly used for non-private
purposes.
The payment of half of the income from blank cassettes not directly to
those entitled to fair compensation but to social and cultural institutions set
up for their benefit
The Court observes that such payment does not allow the right to fair
compensation, or the private copying levy intended to finance it, to be
excluded, provided that the social and cultural establishments actually benefit
those entitled and the detailed arrangements for the operation of such
establishments are not discriminatory, which it is for the Oberster Gerichtshof
to verify.
No account taken of a private copying levy already paid in another
Member State
The Court’s answer is that the obligation to pay a levy such as the
blank cassette levy may not be excluded by reason of the fact that a comparable
levy has already been paid in another Member State.
A person who has previously paid that levy in a Member State which does
not have territorial competence to collect it may request its repayment in
accordance with its national law.
NOTE:
A reference for a preliminary ruling allows the courts and
tribunals of the Member States, in disputes which have been brought before them,
to refer questions to the Court of Justice about the interpretation of European
Union law or the validity of a European Union act.
The Court of Justice does not decide the dispute itself.
It is for the national court or tribunal to dispose of the case in
accordance with the Court’s decision, which is similarly binding on other
national courts or tribunals before which a similar issue is raised.
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