In its judgment of 3 September 2026 in Case C‑598/24, the Court of Justice of the European Union (the “CJEU”) provided important guidance on whether social media posts may be protected by copyright and on the limits governing the use of such posts by the media.
The case concerns a Romanian teacher who published a 22-line text on her Facebook profile entitled “A Short Guide for Parents at the Start of the School Year”, in which she explained why she did not wish to receive gifts from her pupils’ parents. A few days later, a journalist reproduced the entire text in an article published on the website of a Romanian newspaper without the author’s consent. Her name and a link to the original post were added at a later stage. The national courts initially dismissed her copyright infringement claim, finding that the text did not satisfy the criteria for protection as a work. The case subsequently reached the Romanian High Court of Cassation and Justice, which referred questions to the CJEU for a preliminary ruling.
The CJEU confirmed that a text posted on a social network may constitute a “work” within the meaning of Article 2(a) of Directive 2001/29/EC (the “Directive”) and may therefore qualify for copyright protection. The length of the text, the fact that it was posted online and whether it belongs to a particular literary genre are irrelevant to the availability of protection. The decisive question is whether the text is original and whether its author was able to make free and creative choices in drafting it, including through the choice, sequence and combination of words.
With regard to media freedom, the CJEU held, in its interpretation of the Directive, that the permissible extent to which the press may reproduce protected works must be proportionate to the informatory purpose pursued. Reproduction of the entire text is not automatically justified, except where the work is so short that the use of an extract is impossible. The fact that the media outlet derives a commercial benefit from the publication does not, in itself, preclude reliance on this exception. The source and the author’s name must be acknowledged unless this proves impossible.
The judgment provides clear guidance for authors, media organisations and businesses using third-party content from online platforms.
The team at Andrey Delchev & Partners – Eurolex closely monitors developments in the CJEU’s case law concerning intellectual property and the digital environment and is available to advise on the protection of intellectual property.
