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Exaustão Digital na União Europeia Efeitos nas Relações de Consumo
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Resumo(s)
A digitalização dos mercados de bens culturais e tecnológicos alterou profundamente as relações de consumo na União Europeia. Enquanto no modelo físico a primeira venda permitia ao consumidor dispor livremente do bem adquirido, no digital o acesso é normalmente condicionado por licenças de uso e medidas tecnológicas de proteção, prolongando o controlo do titular de direitos de propriedade intelectual para além da colocação inicial no mercado. Este trabalho analisa o impacto dessa transformação no princípio da exaustão, concebido para equilibrar direitos exclusivos e livre circulação, e hoje colocado em causa pela intangibilidade das cópias, pela dicotomia venda/licença e pela opacidade contratual dos chamados wrap agreements. A jurisprudência europeia ilustra bem as tensões existentes: em UsedSoft, o Tribunal de Justiça da União Europeia reconheceu a possibilidade de revenda de software adquirido por download mediante licença perpétua, mas em Tom Kabinet afastou a exaustão relativamente a e-books, tratando-os como comunicação ao público. A ausência de consenso fragiliza a posição do consumidor, que vê limitadas expectativas legítimas de propriedade, revenda, reparação e portabilidade. Em paralelo, discutem-se as respostas do direito europeu de consumo e da regulação digital, que procuram atenuar desequilíbrios, mas não resolvem a incerteza estrutural. A questão que se coloca é se a extensão da exaustão a transmissões digitais permanentes, acompanhada de mecanismos técnicos que garantam simultaneamente remuneração do titular e autonomia do consumidor, poderá constituir um caminho para restabelecer o equilíbrio nas relações de consumo digitais europeias.
The digitalization of cultural and technological goods markets has profoundly altered consumer relations within the European Union. Whereas in the physical model the first sale allowed the consumer to freely dispose of the acquired good, in the digital sphere access is normally conditioned by user licenses and technological protection measures, which extend the control of intellectual property right holders beyond the initial placing on the market. This dissertation analyses the impact of this transformation on the exhaustion principle, originally conceived to balance exclusive rights and free circulation, and now challenged by the intangibility of copies, the sale/license dichotomy, and the contractual opacity of so-called wrap agreements. European case law illustrates these tensions: in UsedSoft, the Court of Justice of the European Union recognized the possibility of reselling software acquired by download under a perpetual license, while in Tom Kabinet it rejected exhaustion in relation to e-books, treating them as communication to the public. The absence of consensus weakens the consumer’s position, limiting legitimate expectations of ownership, resale, repair, and portability. At the same time, the responses of European consumer law and digital regulation seek to mitigate imbalances but do not resolve the structural uncertainty. The question that arises is whether extending exhaustion to permanent digital transmissions, combined with technical mechanisms that simultaneously ensure right holder remuneration and consumer autonomy, may represent a path towards re-establishing balance in European digital consumer relations.
The digitalization of cultural and technological goods markets has profoundly altered consumer relations within the European Union. Whereas in the physical model the first sale allowed the consumer to freely dispose of the acquired good, in the digital sphere access is normally conditioned by user licenses and technological protection measures, which extend the control of intellectual property right holders beyond the initial placing on the market. This dissertation analyses the impact of this transformation on the exhaustion principle, originally conceived to balance exclusive rights and free circulation, and now challenged by the intangibility of copies, the sale/license dichotomy, and the contractual opacity of so-called wrap agreements. European case law illustrates these tensions: in UsedSoft, the Court of Justice of the European Union recognized the possibility of reselling software acquired by download under a perpetual license, while in Tom Kabinet it rejected exhaustion in relation to e-books, treating them as communication to the public. The absence of consensus weakens the consumer’s position, limiting legitimate expectations of ownership, resale, repair, and portability. At the same time, the responses of European consumer law and digital regulation seek to mitigate imbalances but do not resolve the structural uncertainty. The question that arises is whether extending exhaustion to permanent digital transmissions, combined with technical mechanisms that simultaneously ensure right holder remuneration and consumer autonomy, may represent a path towards re-establishing balance in European digital consumer relations.
Descrição
Palavras-chave
Exaustão Digital União Europeia Propriedade Intelectual Direito do Consumidor Importação Paralela Licenciamento Digital Digital Exhaustion European Union Intellectual Property Consumer Law Parallel Import Digital Licensing