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In this issue: New technologies Internet Data protection Media Advertising, marketing and sponsorship Reputation management Telecommunications LexTalk®TMT: a Lexis®Nexis community Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Useful information New technologies DSIT releases report and impact assessment on copyright and artificial intelligence DSIT, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the Intellectual Property Office have jointly issued a report and an impact assessment exploring the use of works protected by copyright in the training and development of AI systems. These have been published pursuant to sections 135 and 136 of the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025. See: LNB News 18/03/2026 44. EDPS unveils Compass on supervision and enforcement under the EU AI Act The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) has released its Compass setting out its expanded role under the EU AI Act as a market surveillance authority...

State aid Commission consults Member States on proposal for a Temporary Crisis Framework Commission President Ursula von der Leyen set out steps to lessen the impact of Middle East developments on EU energy prices and EU economies. Joint gas purchasing Demand reduction Structural reforms She also signalled that the Commission will engage with Member States on making State aid rules more flexible to help vulnerable sectors, with a temporary framework planned for adoption in April 2026...

Merger control Commission publishes Competition Merger Brief: February 2026 On 27 February 2026, the Commission released Issue 1/2026 of its Competition Merger Brief, setting out DG Competition’s assessment of recent merger matters. This issue spotlights Brasserie Nationale/Boissons Heintz (M.11485), a case that obtained conditional clearance at Phase I in July 2025 after concerns that uniting the two leading beverage wholesalers serving on-trade customers in Luxembourg could trigger price rises, limit choice, and create foreclosure risks...

CASE HUB ARCHIVED – this archived case hub captures the position as at the judgment dated 12 December 2019; it is no longer maintained. See also the timeline, commentary, and related/relevant cases for further details. Case facts Outline Case C‑435/18 Otis Gesellshaft m.b.h. and Others v Land Oberösterreich and Others – a national judicial reference from Austria seeking clarification on whether various lift manufacturers should face damages claims by an Austrian local council on the basis that their cartel conduct increased the cost of its loans to construction companies. Latest developments On 12 December 2019, the Court of Justice handed down its judgment. The Court of Justice confirmed and clarified that, under Article 101 TFEU, persons who are neither suppliers nor customers on a market affected by a cartel may obtain compensation for loss caused by that cartel. Parties Otis Gesellshaft m.b.h. Land Oberösterreich Market The market for the supply of lifts and escalators in Austria’s territory....

Johnson & Johnson/Novartis (Fentanyl) (COMP/39.685) [Archived] CASE HUB ARCHIVED – this hub reflects the position at the date of the 10 December 2013 decision and is no longer maintained. See the timeline, commentary and related cases for further details. Case facts Outline European Commission investigation under Article 101 TFEU into Johnson & Johnson and Novartis regarding Fentanyl (case number COMP/39.685). Latest developments The Commission imposed fines of €10.798m on Johnson & Johnson (and subsidiaries) and €5.493m on Novartis (and subsidiaries). Parties Johnson & Johnson (including subsidiaries) Novartis (including subsidiaries) Market(s) Pharmaceuticals (pain-relief medicines). The medicine concerned is Fentanyl, a painkiller around 100 times stronger than morphine. Its primary use is pain relief for people with cancer...

CASE HUB (ARCHIVE 28/01/2016) See further: timeline, commentary and related/relevant cases ARCHIVED — this archived case hub sets out the position as at the decision of 28 January 2016; it is no longer maintained. Case facts Outline An appeal was lodged by Éditions Odile Jacob against the General Court’s ruling that upheld the Commission’s decision of 13 May 2011 endorsing Wendel Investissement as the buyer of divested assets, in line with commitments attached to the conditional clearance of 7 January 2004 authorising the merger by which Lagardère obtained sole control of Vivendi Universal Publishing’s assets (Case COMP/M.2978—Lagardère/Natexis/VUP). On 28 January 2016, the Court of Justice confirmed the General Court’s judgment, thereby holding that the Commission was right to approve, for a second time, Wendel’s purchase of Vivendi Universal Publishing’s assets—assets that Lagardère had been obliged to dispose of as a condition of the merger clearance. The dispute is predominantly about procedural matters linked to the divestiture process—namely, the suitability of the purchaser and, more...