In Case C-135/23, reference for a preliminary ruling from the Potsdam Magistrates’ Court (Germany), the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) heard an application brought in the context of a dispute between Gesellschaft für musikalische Aufführungs- und mechanische Vervielfältigungsrechte eV (GEMA), a collective management organization for copyrights, and GL, which operates a block of flats, concerning alleged infringements of copyright by GL because it has, in the apartments it manages, television sets with an indoor antenna enabling signals to be picked up and broadcasts to be made, in particular of music.
The CJEU decided that Article 3(1) of Directive 2001/29/EC must be interpreted as meaning that the concept of ‘communication to the public’, referred to in that provision, covers the deliberate provision, by the operator of a rented apartment building, of television sets equipped with an indoor antenna that, without further intervention, pick up signals and enable broadcasts to be made, provided that the tenants of those apartments can be regarded as a ‘new public’.
Find the decision here.