YouTube not obligated to release infringers’ details: CJEU
EU law does not require authorities to order YouTube to hand over the email and IP addresses of copyright infringers, the EU’s top court has ruled.
The ruling, issued by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) yesterday, July 9, comes as a blow to a German film distributor which wanted a court order requiring YouTube to hand over the details. Constantin Film sued in German court after the films “Parker” and “Scary Movie 5” were uploaded onto YouTube without its permission.
The film company wanted YouTube to hand over the email and IP addresses, as well as the telephone numbers, of the users who uploaded the videos.
According to Constantin, YouTube was required to supply it with the requested information under EU Directive 2004/48, more commonly known as the IPR Enforcement Directive.
This law can require platforms to furnish rights owners with the “names and addresses” of IP infringers.
But according to the CJEU, this wording does not extend to IP and email addresses, or telephone numbers.
The decision tracks closely to the opinion of a court adviser, who wrote in April that Constantin’s proposed interpretation would stray too far from the everyday meaning of the language in the statute.
“I understand of course that a [rights owner] such as Constantin Film Verleih would like Directive 2004/48 to be amended to enable it to identify possible infringers more easily in the specific context of the internet. However, rewriting that legislation falls not to the court, but to the EU legislature,” advocate general Henrik Saugmandsgaard Øe wrote.
This was the same view adopted by the CJEU in yesterday’s decision, which clarified that the statute only applies to postal addresses.
“The Court nevertheless stated that [EU] member states have the option to grant holders of IP rights the right to receive fuller information, provided, however, that a fair balance is struck between the various fundamental rights involved and compliance with the other general principles of EU law, such as the principle of proportionality,” a release from the court stated.
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