Everything you always wanted to know about private copying but were afraid to ask (Case C-463/12 Copydan Båndkopi v Nokia Danmark A/S)

This blog post is structured as follows. Section 1 briefly discusses Copydan’s background and facts, while clarifying the issues examined by the Advocate General (‘AG’) and the Court. Due to the length of the Opinion and the judgment, section 2 follows the Court’s approach to those issues and contrasts it with the opinion of AG Cruz Villalón. Section 3 offers concluding remarks. The judgment in particular is at some points unclear (if not contradictory), and at other points just poorly written. What follows is a first attempt to understand the Court and reconcile Copydan with the Directive and previous cases on private copying.