LEGAL NEWS IN THE SPOTLIGHT | The Italian Administrative Court of Second Instance revokes the AGCM’s interlocutory order in the Meta v. SIAE case

On 2 July 2024, the Italian Administrative Court of Second Instance (the “Court”) issued Judgment No. 5827 (the “Judgment”), overturning the decision whereby the Italian Administrative Court of First Instance (“TAR Lazio”) had confirmed the decision of the Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) imposing interim measures (the “Measures”) on META Platforms Inc. (“Meta”) for Meta’s alleged abuse of economic dependence in its negotiations with the main Italian Collective Management Organisation SIAE. The interlocutory remedy, which was originally granted by AGCM with Order No. 30606 of 20 April 2023, required Meta, which had ceased all use of SIAE’s repertoire on its platforms because SIAE had demanded a much higher fee than that offered by Meta, to (a) resume negotiations with SIAE in good faith; and (b) immediately restore the availability of musical works intermediated by SIAE on Meta’s platforms, based on the presumption (set forth in Article 9.1 of Law No. 192/1998) of the “economic dependence” of users of online “intermediary” platforms. The Judgment held that it had not been reasonably proven that (a) Meta performs an “intermediary” function in the relevant field as required by Article 9.1 of Law No. 192/1998 and thus the presumption of “economic dependence” applies; (b) Meta’s fee offer was “unreasonable” and SIAE’s economic offer was “reasonable”; and (c) Meta illegitimately refused to share data with SIAE that was necessary for the negotiation phase. The proceedings on the merits are still ongoing.

Newsletter n. 98 – July 2024