On the topic of German Federal High Court of Justice’s (BGH) November 2015 ruling on the liability of Internet providers for copyright infringements by third parties, eco’s Director of Policy and Law, Oliver Süme, comments:
“The ruling is an important signal against the exaggerated claims being made against Internet providers related to copyright infringement by third parties. However, we would have welcomed a clear rejection of the blocking of online content.” The BGH did indeed overrule blocking orders on the grounds of disproportionality in the two cases it examined. However, the judges did not rule out Internet providers having to block online content found to be in infringement of copyright, if the copyright owner has made a “reasonable effort” to prevent protected material from being distributed.
“In our opinion, the blocking of online content is not an effective means to combat illegal online content. The establishment of an infrastructure to block and filter online content is counterproductive in the fight against illegal content and its deletion. At the same time, it is a move towards a culture of censorship which undermines the basic principles of transparency and the rule of law,” cautions Süme.
