COPYRIGHT | The CJEU on communication to the public and cable retransmission in retirement homes

On 30 April 2026, the CJEU issued its judgment in case C-127/24 (GEMA v VHC 2 Seniorenresidenz und Pflegeheim GmbH), concerning the interpretation of Article 3(1) of InfoSoc Directive, and specifically whether the simultaneous retransmission of broadcast programmes via an internal cable network to residents’ rooms in a retirement home constitutes a “communication to the public”. The CJEU ruled that such retransmission does not constitute a “communication to the public” within the meaning of Article 3(1) of the InfoSoc Directive, on the grounds that (a) the retransmission does not use “specific technical means” different from those of the original broadcast, as it merely redistributes the signal within the same establishment without constituting an independent transmission; (b) the residents of a retirement home, who live there on a permanent basis, do not constitute a “new public”, since – like tenants of residential apartments – they form part of the public already taken into account by rightholders when authorising the original broadcast; and (b) the profit-making nature of the operator’s activity is not necessarily an essential condition for the existence of a communication to the public. The Court added that such an interpretation does not disregard the objectives of the InfoSoc Directive, as recognising a “communication to the public” in such circumstances would result in undue remuneration for rightholders, whereas the Directive only guarantees them appropriate remuneration.

Newsletter n. 118 – May 2026