Success for TKP in a high-profile copyright case

The Supreme Court issued a judgment on 27 May 2022 dismissing a cassation appeal lodged by the defendants in a case against the operator of Chomikuj. The judgment upholds the Kraków Appeal Court judgment ordering the operator of the website to filter content to eliminate files from the films concerned in the case, and awarding compensation for infringement.

The written statement of reasons is not available yet, but this dismissal confirms the Kraków Appeal Court’s standpoint that Chomikuj is liable for direct infringement of copyright.

The judgment therefore brings this case, which concerns a legal precedent, to a close, and demonstrates that even before the DSM directive is implemented, online providers can be held liable for copyright infringement caused by users’ conduct. Online platforms are not merely required to take down content identified by rightholders. They are also required to ensure that the content is not posted on the site in the future. Thus even now, under Polish law, the rules laid down in the CJEU judgment in cases C-682/18 and C-683/18 (YouTube/Cyando) apply. We are glad to have played a role in the formation of Polish copyright case law. Special congratulations go to Tomasz Targosz PhD, who acted for the plaintiffs in the case.