This is an informal case summary prepared for the purposes of facilitating exchange during the 2024 WIPO IP Judges Forum.
Superior Court of Justice of Brazil [2024]: Ebazar.com.br Ltda. v Instituto Ana Paula Pujol Ltda, Case No. 2.057.908/SC
Date of judgment: April 2, 2024
Issuing authority: Superior Tribunal de Justiça (STJ) - Superior Court of Justice
Level of the issuing authority: Final Instance
Type of procedure: Judicial (Civin( �/span>
Subject matter: Copyright and Related Rights (Neighboring Rights)
Plaintiff: Instituto Ana Paula Pujol Ltda.
Defendant: Ebazar.com.br Ltda. (MercadoLivre)
Keywords: copyright infringement, liability of digital platforms
Basic facts: Instituto Ana Paula Pujol Ltda (Plaintiff), an educational institution offering paid online courses through its digital platform, had entered into license agreements with its professors. These agreements transferred the professors' patrimonial rights over their work to the Plaintiff, along with the rights to organize the classes and use their images.
However, one of the vendors operating a virtual shop on MercadoLivre, Ebazar.com.br Ltda’s (Defendant) digital platform began selling some of the Plaintiff's online courses without authorization. Despite the Plaintiff’s attempts to identify the vendor and stop the unauthorized sales, the Defendant failed to take effective action.
In the first instance, the court (Second Circuit) ruled in favor of the Plaintiff, finding that the Defendant was liable for the unauthorized commercialization of the Plaintiff’s courses. The court ordered the Defendant to cease the commercialization of the courses and to pay R$ 15,670.90 in damages, an amount equivalent to the value of the courses sold on the platform. The court also awarded the Plaintiff compensation for moral damages.
The Defendant appealed the decision, arguing that its platform facilitates transactions between third-party vendors and buyers, with no direct relationship with the vendors. The Defendant emphasized that it has developed programs to identify and prevent copyright violations, thereby mitigating the risks associated with its business model. The Defendant also cited the Brazilian Data Protection Act, which holds platform owners liable for copyright violations only if, after being notified by the copyright holder, they fail to prevent further infringements.
Held: The Superior Court of Justice affirmed the Second Circuit Judgement, which held the Plaintiff responsible for copyright infringement.
Relevant holdings in relation to Copyright: According to the Superior Court, the result was correct for two main reasons:
(1) The Copyrights Act has a specific rule on digital platforms liability for damages incurred by third parties. If the platform makes the commercialization or unfair use possible, its developer is responsible for damages. The Law does not require the platform to inspect the content sold in advance, but it does impose liability on those who expose the sale of protected works, regardless of how the infringement was carried out. Her responsibility doesn’t depend on the proof of culpability and isn’t excluded for being a violation by third parties.
(2) The Defendant did not ban or restrict the vendor’s activities, even after the Plaintiff’s notifications.
Relevant legislation:
· Law nº 9.610/1998 (Brazilian Copyrights Act)
· Law nº 13.709/2018 (Brazilian Data Protection Act)