A trial will determine whether the full reproduction of newspaper articles, both print and online, in press reviews that are then sold to public bodies or private companies constitutes an intellectual property violation . The Court of Cagliari, with an order from preliminary investigations judge Luca Melis , rejected the request to dismiss a complaint filed by L'Unione Sarda Spa against Eco della Stampa Spa, a Milan-based media monitoring company that provides press reviews to numerous public (such as the Presidency of the Republic) and private (Eni, Heineken) entities, has decided this.

The judge ordered the public prosecutor Nicoletta Mari to formulate, within ten days, the forced indictment against Paola Frugiuele, president of the board of directors and legal representative of the Milanese company , deeming that the matter is not exclusively civil in nature.

In a 28-page order, investigating judge Melis, after examining the investigative file, ordered the public prosecutor to charge the violation of copyright law, insofar as it punishes anyone who reproduces, transcribes, performs in public, distributes, sells, or markets someone else's work, including on the Internet or computer networks. A trial will therefore determine whether reproducing, in its entirety, without consent, articles excerpted from the newspaper or website and then including them in reviews sold throughout Italy constitutes a criminal violation . Both the complaint and the opposition to the request for dismissal were filed by Lia Serreli , general director of the Unione Sarda Group .

Full articles from L'Unione Sarda and Unionesarda.it, marked "all rights reserved," ended up in the reviews sold by Eco della Stampa Spa, despite a communication dated June 6, 2022, and a formal notice dated March 13, 2023. The Prosecutor's Office deemed the matter to be of a civil nature, attributing the activity to Article 43-bis, which provides fair compensation for press review companies for publishers. Having ruled out criminal charges, according to the prosecutor, the matter should have been resolved in civil court.

Preliminary hearing judge Melis, however, overturned this interpretation. The law grants publishers exclusive rights of reproduction and communication, and compensation presupposes permitted use: "It does not replace the rights holder's consent," the judge wrote, "and does not convert the publisher's prohibition into a mere creditor's claim." The judge also cited a ruling by the European Court of Justice of May 12, 2026, according to which the publisher must be able to refuse authorization or grant it free of charge.

For the investigating judge, the compensation proposal made by the company on January 20, 2025, and rejected by L'Unione Sarda on February 3, does not change the situation. "The mere formulation of an offer from the party interested in reproducing," the judge explains, "cannot have the effect of acceptance by the other party" and cannot "retroactively rectify uses already made against the express refusal." Regarding the industry practice cited by the defense, the order is clear: "A commercial practice does not constitute a source of usage rights in derogation of the law, nor can it prevail over the express will of the owner." Now the Prosecutor's Office must file charges within ten days and then the case will go to trial, one of the first in Italy on this matter. Eco della Stampa Spa is represented by Professor Francesco Mucciarelli of the Milan Bar Association, while L'Unione Sarda Spa is represented by Professor Giovanni Manca .

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