COPYRIGHT | Advocate General Opinion on press publishers’ right

On 10 July 2025, Advocate General Szpunar released his opinion in case C-797/23 (Meta v AGCOM and others), concerning the preliminary questions referred to the ECJ by the Regional Administrative Court of Lazio (see Our Echo n. 91), on the compatibility with EU law of the Italian rules on press publishers’ right (the Italian Implementation) set out by Art. 43-bis of the Italian Copyright Law (ICL) and resolution no. 3/23/CONS of the Italian Media Regulator (AGCOM). In his opinion, the Advocate General advised the EJC to rule that national provisions such as those introduced by the Italian Implementation – which (a) confer on press publishers the right to obtain a fair remuneration in return for an authorization granted to information society service providers (ISSPs) to use their publications, (b) impose certain obligations concerning the negotiations, and (c) entrusts AGCOM with regulatory and monitoring powers – may be compatible with EU law to the extent that they (a) respect the right of press publishers to refuse to authorize the relevant uses of their publications by ISSPs, (b) do not impose on ISSPs any payment obligation unrelated to the actual relevant uses of such publications, and (c) respect the contractual freedom of the parties, including the right to depart from the license fee calculated by AGCOM and to conclude royalty-free licenses.

Newsletter n. 109 – July 2025