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Warner Brothers Inc. and Metronome Video ApS v. Erik Viuff Christiansen

Case No. 158/86 (1988)

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Warner Brothers Inc. and Metronome Video ApS v. Erik Viuff Christiansen

European Court of Justice
Case No. 158/86 (1988)

  • Written by Jody Stuart, JD

Facts

Warner Brothers Inc. (Warner) (plaintiff) owned the United Kingdom (UK) copyright for a film that it had produced. Videos of the film were sold in the UK with Warner’s consent. Warner assigned management of the film’s video-production rights in Denmark to Metronome Video ApS (Metronome) (plaintiff). Erik Viuff Christiansen (defendant) bought a videocassette of the film in the UK and imported it into Denmark to rent out the video in his Denmark video shop. Warner and Metronome obtained an injunction in Danish court prohibiting Christiansen from renting out the video in Denmark. Christiansen argued that Warner was at liberty to choose in which member states of the European Economic Community to market its film and had to consider whether a member state had legislation providing an exclusive right to the rental market. Christiansen further argued that by selling a film in the UK, a member state that did not offer exclusive rental-market rights, a filmmaker must accept the consequences that the right to restrain rentals in any other member state would be exhausted. The Danish court requested a preliminary ruling from the European Court of Justice regarding the interpretation of Articles 30 and 36 of the European Economic Community (EEC) Treaty.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Per curiam)

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