The Levola Hengelo CJEU decision: ambiguities, uncertainties ... and more questions
As announced earlier today, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has finally issued its (short) judgment in Levola Hengelo , C-310/17 , holding that copyright cannot vest in the taste of a food product (a spreadable cheese in the background Dutch proceedings). The case is important for a number of reasons, and especially because it is probably the first time that the CJEU has been given directly the chance to tackle the notion of 'work' under the InfoSoc Directive (but, I would say, the overall EU copyright acquis). Let's see how the CJEU reasoned. 'Work' under the InfoSoc Directive The Court started by noting that the InfoSoc Directive harmonizes a number of economic rights and related exceptions and limitations, which concern the exploitation of 'works'. Yet, that piece of legislation does not define what is to be intended as 'work', nor does it make any reference to the laws of individual Member States. This means, unsurprisingly, t...