Resumen de Court of Justice of the European Union: : CJEU introduces concept of parody in EU Law: Deckmyn v. Vandersteen
A judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), by way of a preliminary ruling delivered on 3 September 2014, once more deals with the conflicting interests of copyright protection and the right to freedom of expression and information (see Case-C-70/10 Scarlet Extended v. SABAM (see IRIS 2012-1/2), Case C-360/10 SABAM v. Netlog NV (see IRIS 2012-3/3) and Case C-314-12 UPC Telekabel v. Constantin Film Verleih (see IRIS 2014-5/2). In a case concerning the concept and application of the parody-exception in copyright law, the CJEU held that a �fair balance� must be obtained between the rights of the copyright holders and the right to freedom of expression, in this case of the parodist. The case concerns a political cartoon on a calendar with a message that was alleged discriminatory towards foreigners. The cartoon is a parody of the cover of one of the most famous comics strips in Belgium, Spike and Suzy (Suske en Wiske, Bob et Bobette) by Willy Vandersteen. The parodist is a member of the Vlaams Belang (Flemish Interest), a Flemish nationalistic party.
