October 9, 2024, DPCMO and LinkedIn met at the Danish Copyright Licence Tribunal. DPCMO demands – in accordance with article 17 of the DSM directive – access to data and a reasonable remuneration as LinkedIn allows its users to share DPCMO’s repertoire. Press publishers’ rights are in Denmark protected by section 52c of the Danish Copyright Act transposing article 17. LinkedIn claims that the case should be dismissed due to lack of jurisdiction and denies that LinkedIn fall within scope. That’s what today’s oral hearing is about.
We know the drill – tech’s claims of dismissal of cases due to lack of jurisdiction, procedural errors, wrong addressee, wrong venue etc. have the sole purpose of delaying the cases, complicating the cases, shifting focus from the real legal issues.
The DSM directive has celebrated its fifth birthday. The Danish transposition three years. But we still don’t have a well-functioning and fair copyright market. We will experience the value gap between big tech and local content creators and that protected content is being uploaded and shared without prior authorisation from the rightsholders. How can we enable diversity and offer new cultural and creative works if big tech continues to monetize our content for free?
We hope that the Tribunal decides to hear the case on its merits. If not, we can once again state that the “new” rights in the DSM did not come with up-to-date and effective enforcement tools. Denmark should take the lead in Europe to introduce a binding final offer arbitration mechanism.
LinkedIn should build products and business models that foster a vibrant ecosystem for creators and publishers. Undermining the ecosystem is the opposite of being professional.