A social media post may qualify for copyright protection despite its informal format. In a judgment of 3 September 2026 in Gândul Media Network (C-598/24), the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) clarified when such posts are protected and how the current-events reporting exception applies.
Facts And Background Of The Case
In September 2021, a Romanian teacher posted a 22-line text on Facebook entitled “Short guide for parents at the start of the school year”, explaining that she did not wish to receive gifts from students’ parents. About a week later, an online newspaper reproduced the text in full without the teacher’s consent. The article initially omitted her name and the source, adding them only after she complained in the comments.
The teacher sued for copyright infringement and material and non-material damages. The lower courts dismissed the claim, finding the text ineligible for copyright protection. The teacher appealed to Romania’s High Court of Cassation and Justice, which referred two preliminary questions to the CJEU:
(1) Can a social media post expressing an opinion on social practices qualify as a copyright-protected work under Article 2(a) of Directive 2001/29?
(2) May Member States limit the current-events reporting exception to short extracts and exclude uses generating direct or indirect commercial or economic benefit?
Can a social media post qualify for copyright protection?
Under Article 2(a) of Directive 2001/29, content is protected only if it qualifies as a “work”. This requires two cumulative conditions:
- Originality: the content must be the author’s own intellectual creation, reflecting free and creative choices.
- Identifiability: the content must be identifiable with sufficient precision and objectivity.
All types of text, including social media posts, may qualify for protection if they are original. Length, place of publication and adherence to a predetermined literary genre are irrelevant unless applicable rules or constraints leave no room for creative freedom. For a text, originality may lie in the author’s “choice, sequence and combination of the words”, which is for the national court to assess.
A social media post can therefore qualify for copyright protection. The low threshold is consistent with Infopaq (C‑5/08), in which the CJEU accepted that an extract of 11 words may qualify for protection, and with its approach in Călinescu (C‑649/23) regarding critical editions of works in the public domain.
Are there limits on national current-events reporting exceptions?
The second question concerned whether Romania’s current-events reporting exception comply with Article 5(3)(c) of Directive 2001/29.
Member States have discretion when implementing Article 5(3)(c), but national rules must remain proportionate, preserve the exception’s effectiveness, satisfy the three-step test in Article 5(5), and balance copyright with fundamental rights.
Limitation to short extracts
Romanian law limits the exception to short extracts. The CJEU held that Article 5(3)(c) sets no formal quantitative limit but permits only use necessary for the informational purpose. A short-extract limit is therefore compatible with EU law, whereas reproducing an entire work may interfere with its normal exploitation and unreasonably prejudice the author’s legitimate interests.
No blanket prohibition on commercial benefit
The CJEU rejected a blanket prohibition on commercial or financial benefit. Media organisations commonly pursue economic activity to fund their public-information role. Excluding all commercially connected uses would upset the balance between copyright and freedom of expression and the press and undermine the exception’s effectiveness.
Practical Takeaways
Short, informal or online content can attract copyright protection if it reflects free and creative choices and is sufficiently identifiable.
Before reusing social media content, businesses should assess originality, identify the source and credit the author, obtain permission unless an exception clearly applies, and reproduce only what is necessary.
Media organisations may rely on current-events reporting even when operating commercially, but full reproduction remains risky, especially for short-form content where copying the whole post may substitute for the original. So, quoting a limited passage and linking to the source, or obtaining permission, is usually the safer approach.
For any questions or assistance, please reach out to Simont Braun’s Intellectual Property Team at IP@simontbraun.eu or +32 (0)2 543 70 80.
Authors:
- Michaël De Vroey, Simont Braun
