Music Industry Delivered Sour Note by the EU Court

In what has to be a blow for folks like EMI and Sony the Euro court remanded the issue back to the individual EU countries for codification. That means the Suits will have go from Spain to Sweden to seek relief. –

January 29, 2008 (IDG News Service) In a blow against the music industry, the European Court of Justice ruled on Tuesday that E.U. countries don’t have to require Internet service providers to reveal subscriber data for use in civil cases.

The Luxembourg court said E.U. nations may decide on their own whether to require such disclosure, but advised them to seek a balance between disclosing personal information and protecting intellectual property.

Existing E.U. directives on intellectual property do not require disclosure of personal data to ensure effective protection of copyright, the court said in a news release (PDF format).

The court’s decision means that music and film industry groups may have to find other ways in some countries to identify those suspected of illegally sharing files without the permission of the copyright holder.

It also bolsters prevailing opinions in Europe that an IP (Internet protocol) address — which identifies the computer used by a person — is a privacy issue, personal data that should be protected.

With a pending determination that the EU may consider IP addresses private information, the ability of someone like the RIAA to operate may become impossible.

Linky.