Alleged infringement of rights of copyright holders in the Finnish television markets

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  • Case: 1623/2009/(BB)(TS)FOR
    Opened on 02 Sep 2009 - Decision on 06 Jan 2012
  • Institution(s) concerned: European Commission
  • Field(s) of law: Industrial policy and internal market
  • Types of maladministration alleged – (i) breach of, or (ii) breach of duties relating to: Lawfulness (incorrect application of substantive and/or procedural rules) [Article 4 ECGAB]
  • Subject matter(s): The Commission as Guardian of the treaty: Article 258 of the TFEU (ex Article 226 of the EC Treaty)
Copyright symbol
Author: European Ombudsman
Copyright: European Union

Summary of the decision on complaint 1623/2009/(BB)(TS)FOR (confidential) against the European Commission

The complainants administer rights of copyright holders in Finland. They complained to the European Commission that Finland was not complying with its obligations under EU law to protect the rights of copyright holders given that it allowed cable operators to retransmit television channels without paying the copyright holders.

After carrying out an inquiry, the Ombudsman concluded that the Commission failed to explain clearly the reasons for not proceeding further with the complaint that had been submitted to it. The Ombudsman thus made a proposal for a friendly solution asking the Commission to explain clearly its position and give the complainants four weeks to submit comments on any proposal to close the case.

In response, the Commission stated that, in light of the further correspondence of the complainants, the case was transferred to the EU Pilot project. The EU Pilot project seeks to resolve complaints which the Commission receives about infringements of EU law by the Member States. In this context, the Commission will now contact Finland to request information or seek solutions to the problems. The complainants indicated that they were happy with the response of the Commission. The Ombudsman closed his inquiry with a finding that the complaint had been settled by the Commission.