In the context of the lecture series “(Re)thinking Intellectual Property, Fundamental Questions and New Perspectives”, the CEIPI has the pleasure of welcoming on Wednesday April the 10th 2019 at 6 pm, Strasbourg, Building l’Escarpe, 11 rue du Maréchal Juin, auditorium 23, Dr. habil. Peter Mezei, Associate Professor of Law at the University of Szeged Faculty of Law and Political Sciences.
The public lecture will focus on the topic: “The Challenges of Digital Second-Hand Marketplaces for European Copyright Law”. The debate will be moderated by Prof. Christophe Geiger, Director General of CEIPI.
Abstract: Problems associated with the doctrine of exhaustion have grown concurrently with the emergence of digital technologies, in particular with development of the internet. The question as to whether the doctrine of exhaustion is applicable to digital files has become pressing since shortly after protected subject-matter (especially software, audio and audiovisual content, e-books) has been predominantly (or at least significantly) sold online. This dilemma challenges the pre-existing set of economic rights, freedom to provide services, free movement of goods, as well as the traditional business models of the copyright industry. Courts have faced legal disputes more often following the Millennium, and undoubtedly disputes surrounding the idea of digital exhaustion are far from over. The paper summarizes the key elements of the UsedSoft and the ReDigi rulings, and it collects the pros and cons regarding possible introduction of a digital exhaustion doctrine. It will be argued that the traditional positivist approach is a dead end, whereas a constructive realistic approach can convincingly serve as the basis for application of the doctrine in the digital age.
Short CV: Péter Mezei is an Associate Professor of Law at the Institute of Comparative Law and Legal Theory, Faculty of Law and Political Sciences, University of Szeged. He teaches and writes in the areas of international, comparative and digital copyright law. He is an Adjunct Professor (dosentti) at the University of Turku (Finland), Lecturer in Law at the University of Toledo College of Law (USA), and Visiting Professor of the Université Jean Moulin Lyon III (France) and of the Bocconi University (Italy). He has given presentations on copyright law around the world, including in Austria, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Indonesia, Russia, Spain, the Sudan, the United States and the United Kingdom.
Links to relevant papers
Copyright Exhaustion by Péter Mezei (Cambridge University Press, 2018)
This presentation will also be the opportunity to present the findings of his recent book entitled "Copyright Exhaustion - Law and Policy in the United States and the European Union" published with Cambridge University press.
