Search results : 477

In a judgment of 12 December 2018, the District Court of Amsterdam ruled that the Dutch collective rights management organisation Buma/Stemra acted unlawfully by charging two different fees based on a distinction between “private use” and “professional use” to users of online music streaming services. The lawsuit was filed against Buma/Stemra by several producers of background music - all members of the Associated Business Music Distributors (hereafter: “ABMD” or “the claimants”). AMBD members offer background-music subscriptions to several businesses, such as shops, restaurants and gyms. Their...

In a judgment of 8 February 2019, the Midden-Nederland District Court dismissed an action brought by a Dutch movie distributor seeking to obtain Internet users’ contact data held by a Dutch Internet service provider (ISP). The movie distributor requested data that would enable it to identify Internet users who illegally downloaded a certain movie.   Between 21 December 2017 and 2 Februar 2018, the movie distributor was permitted by the Dutch data protection authority (Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens) to collect the Internet Protocol (IP) addresses of Internet users who illegally downloaded the movie...

On 21 December 2018, the provisional relief judge of the District Court of Amsterdam (“the District Court”) ruled on a dispute between PVH B.V. (“PVH”) and two of its subsidiaries on one side, and Facebook Ireland Limited and Facebook Netherlands B.V. (“Facebook”) on the other side. Most notably, the District Court ruled that Facebook did not fall within the scope of the safe harbour provided by Article 14 eCommerce Directive, as implemented by Article 6:196c(4) of the Dutch Civil Code (Burgerlijk Wetboek - “the DCC”). The dispute arose after numerous advertisements were shown on Facebook’s platforms,...

In a judgment of 11 December 2018, the Court of Appeal of Arnhem-Leeuwarden (“the Appeal Court”) ruled that a journalist had not acted unlawfully by taping and sharing a recording or the contents of a phone call in which a municipal council member (“the council member”) provided him with confidential information. As a party chairman, the council member was a member of a committee responsible for the appointment of an acting mayor. While the appointment procedure was underway, and days before the official announcement of the nominee, the council member spoke over the phone about, inter alia, that...

In a letter sent to Dutch parliament on 13 December 2018, the Dutch Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations set out the Dutch governmental plans to tackle disinformation in the build-up to the European and national provincial elections of May and March 2019, respectively. The letter, in part, aims to implement motions that were adopted earlier in this context by the Dutch parliament. The Minister opens the letter by reiterating that the spread of disinformation with the goal to undermine and destabilize the democratic order poses a real threat. The government’s efforts are aimed at countering...