Request for a preliminary ruling from the Svea Hovrätt — Patent- och marknadsöverdomstolen (Sweden) lodged on 27 August 2019 — BY v CX

(Case C-637/19)

Language of the case: Swedish

Referring court

Svea Hovrätt, Patent- och marknadsöverdomstolen

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: BY

Defendant: CX

Questions referred

Does the term ‘public’ in Articles 3(1) and 4(1) of Directive 2001/29/EC ¹ of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 May 2001 on the harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the information society have a uniform meaning?

If question 1 is answered in the affirmative, is a court to be regarded as falling within the scope of the term ‘public’ within the meaning of those provisions?

If question 1 is answered in the negative: (a) in the event of communication of a protected work to a court, can that court fall within the scope of the term ‘public’? (b) in the event of distribution of a protected work to a court, can that court fall within the scope of the term ‘public’?

Does the fact that national legislation lays down a general principle of access to public documents in accordance with which any person who makes a request can access procedural documents submitted to a court, except where they contain confidential information, affect the assessment of whether submission to a court of a protected work amounts to a ‘communication to the public’ or a ‘distribution to the public’?

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¹ OJ 2001 L 167, p. 10.