Stichting Brein v. Ziggo BV
European Union Court of Justice
Case C-610/15 (2017)
- Written by Margot Parmenter, JD
Facts
Stichting Brein (Brein) (plaintiff), a foundation protecting copyright holders, sued Ziggo BV (Ziggo) (defendant), an internet-service provider in the Netherlands. Ziggo was enabling user access to an online file-sharing platform called The Pirate Bay (TPB). TPB managed and indexed torrent files, which are electronic files that have been divided using BitTorrent software. BitTorrent separates electronic files into shareable segments, rendering them easier to transfer and store. The files hosted on and managed by TPB were mostly copyrighted, and the copyright holders had not given TPB or its users permission to share them. Brein sought an order that would require Ziggo to eliminate user access to TPB by blocking TPB’s domain and IP address, thereby preventing the copyright infringement taking place on TPB’s website. The district court ruled in favor of Brein, but the order was overturned on appeal. The case was appealed to the Netherlands Supreme Court. Then, because the case involved the interpretation of European Union (EU) Directive 2001/29/EC (the directive), a directive to member states about copyright laws, the Netherlands Supreme Court stayed proceedings to refer the case’s central question to the EU Court of Justice, which considered the question in a preliminary ruling.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Per curiam)
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