Austria: European Court of Justice issues preliminary ruling on Puls 4 - Youtube case

On 24 August 2021, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) published a preliminary ruling, requested by the Austrian Supreme Court for interpretation of the law regarding the Puls 4 - Youtube case. The Austrian television channel Puls 4 filed a complaint against Youtube, aiming for Youtube to be held liable for copyright infringement by users who uploaded Puls 4 material without authorisation. YouTube, on the other hand, relied on the host service provider's liability privilege and the required agreement of the uploading users who must accept copyright rules including the obligation to own the copyright or use rights to the videos in order to monetise them. The ECJ's ruling confirmed that YouTube does not have to examine every video for copyright infringement automatically.