Brussels - Delivering a setback to the global music industry's legal campaign against illegal file-sharing, the European Court of Justice has ruled that EU countries need not disclose the identities of suspected file-swappers in the course of civil lawsuits. The court found in favor of Spanish telco Telefonica, which argued that EU rules only stipulate that file-swapper identities must be disclosed in criminal proceedings.

Spanish recording industry trade group Promusicae was seeking the identities of Telefonica broadband subscribers suspected of copyright infringement on the Kazaa file-sharing network.

"Community law does not require the member states, in order to ensure the effective protection of copyright, to lay down an obligation to disclose personal data in the context of civil proceedings," the court stated.

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), a recording industry trade group, called attention to the fact that the ruling also said that EU privacy law "does not preclude the possibility for the Member States of laying down an obligation to disclose personal data in the context of civil proceedings."

"The judgment means that music rights owners can still take actions to enforce their civil rights, and it has sent out a clear signal that Member States have to get the right balance between privacy and enforcement of intellectual property rights and that intellectual property rights can neither be ignored nor neglected," said IFPI chairman and CEO John Kennedy.

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/1yjf0 (PDF of ruling)

http://uk.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUKL292527220080129

http://www.ifpi.org/content/section_news/20080129.html

http://www.promusicae.org

http://curia.europa.eu