The CJEU Allposters Case: Beginning of the End of Digital Exhaustion?

Abstract

In the highly anticipated Allposters decision, the CJEU tied the principle of copyright exhaustion to a physical medium, not allowing for the possibility of exhaustion for digital content falling under the Copyright Directive. Furthermore, the practical implications of the Allposters judgment go beyond the seemingly premature end of digital copyright exhaustion (at least for works regulated by the Copyright Directive) and might impede national attempts of copyright law modernisation, leaving scarce room for national copyright limitations and exceptions.

Keywords: Copyright, exhaustion principle, digital content, Allposters, CJEU