Grasping the extent of copyright levy obligations for distant sellers under EU-law and national legislation has always been challenging. The obligation to report distant-sales of certain IT and CE equipment and payment of the respective copyright levies due through online-trade was only taken into account a few years ago. The European Court of Justice has shed light on the issue of distant sales through several rulings. Subsequently, most EU-member and EFTA-states, amongst others, created the legal basis, or found a pragmatic approach to the issue at hand. However, those remain to be country-specific regulations, where obligations for online sellers still need careful consideration in light of the different distribution system(s). The Greek legal system is a testament to why this is essential.
Greece has a complex and comprehensive copyright levy system covering various products. As far as the obligations of foreign suppliers are concerned, certain legal regulations relative to customs and tax could lead to misinterpretations. This is still the case seven years after the Austro-Mechana ruling (C 572/14) and more than ten years after the Opus ruling (C-462/09) of the ECJ.
In this context, 1cc has recently been involved, yet again, in clarifying a case in which a company offering its products for sale via a web shop had not fulfilled its declaration and levy-payment obligations in the country. Contrary to its understanding, the company was confirmed to be obligated under the copyright law. The Greek authorities made it clear that they consider it an infringement if such sales were not reported, such that the non-compliance would lead to penalties.