That may seem
obvious when stated, but every year agents receive thousands of submissions for work that does not have
national appeal, and does not deserve shelf space at every chain bookstore in the country.
The Court of
Appeal did not however deem the answer to this question
obvious, given that six courts in other EU Member States had declared
national legislation to be invalid on the basis of DRI.
The acte clair doctrine, first articulated in Cilfit (C - 283 / 81), states that in accordance with article 267 TFEU, a
national court against whose judgment there is no higher
appeal must refer a question to the ECJ when a question on the interpretation of EU law arises, unless the answer is «so
obvious as to leave no scope for any reasonable doubt».