CJEU rules that websites displaying links to copyrighted material under contract may be subject to restrictions imposed by the copyright owner

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has issued its judgement in Case C-392/19 VG Bild-Kunst v Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz stating that where the copyright holder has adopted or imposed measures to restrict framing, the embedding of a work in a website page of a third party, by means of that technique, constitutes making available that work to a new public. That communication to the public must, consequently, be authorised by the copyright holder. 

In this case, parties negotiated a license fee and a provisional agreement which allowed Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz (SPK) to display thumbnails of the VG Bild-Kunst individual works on its portal. VG Bild-Kunst insisted on implementation of their standard procedures on copyright licensing agreements. SPK was asked to  adopt technical measures preventing third parties from integrating the thumbnails via framing.