European Court of Justice narrows the notion of 'address' in copyright infringement cases

By Emmanuel Legrand

Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has denied the request from a German film production and distribution company whose works were illegally uploaded on YouTube to have the video streaming service hand over the email addresses, telephone numbers and IP address of the users who illegally uploaded the films to the Google-owned platform.

  The CJEU issued the ruling following a request for guidance issued by a German court that was asked to determine, in a case filed by German film distributor Constantin Film, if it could force YouTube to provide the personal data of alleged infringers. Constantin Film had taken YouTube and Google to court after the companies declined to provide the data of users who are alleged to have uploaded movies the rights of which are owned by Constantin in 2013 and 2014.

Fair balance between fundamental rights

  The CJEU ruling narrows the notion of "address" to identify infringers when it comes to copyright infringement. “When a film is unlawfully uploaded onto an online platform, such as YouTube, the rights holder may, under the directive on the enforcement of intellectual property rights, require the operator to provide only the postal address of the user concerned, but not his or her email, IP address or telephone number,” wrote the CJEU in its ruling. "The directive, which provides for disclosure of the ‘addresses’ of persons who have infringed an intellectual property right, covers only the postal address."

  The Court nevertheless stated that "the Member States have the option to grant holders of intellectual property 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."

Ruling provides clarity

  “Today’s CJEU decision provides the legal clarity on what information is appropriate to share with rights holders in case of a copyright claim,” a YouTube spokesperson told Reuters.

  The CJEU ruling will now provide the German court the legal foundation to make a decision about Constantin Film's request, and it is likely to go in favour of YouTube.