Non-pecuniary damage on copyright: hypothetical royalty criteria and punitive damages

Abstract

From  the  perspective of Spanish copyright law,  two  judgments of the  Court  of  Justice of  the  European Union (CJEU)  published in  2016  and  2017 —Case  C-99/15 and Case C-367/15— represent  an important change  in jurispruden- tial  doctrine on  moral  damage  for infringement of copyright and  other  intellectual property  rights.  On  the  one  hand, the  CJEU  confirms that  the  party  injured by an infringement of  their  intellectual property   right  can  claim   compensation for  the material damage  calculated according on  the  basis  of hypothetical royalty  and  also to claim  compensation for the  moral  damage;  and,  on  the  other  hand, it has  been recognized that  Directive  2004/48/EC does  not  close the doors  to the punitive dam- ages mechanism for infringements of intellectual property  rights.  This work  proposes an approach to the new  criteria,  show the functions of tort  law  in our  legal system and  the  future of the  reform  of the  Directive.