The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled today that EU law does not force the disclosure of internet users' details in file-sharing cases.
The judgment will be a blow to record labels but could also put ISPs in the UK at a commercial disadvantage, a copyright expert has said.
The ECJ has said that it is up to each country to decide how to balance the rights of the copyright holders to protect their intellectual property and the rights of internet users to protect their privacy.
A Spanish music rights-holder group had attempted to have the court force telecoms firm Telefónica to disclose subscriber details, but the court said that Spanish law can be consistent with EU law whether or not it obliges the disclosure of personal data in civil proceedings.
Initially the rights-holder group, Promusicae, won its case, but Telefónica appealed, saying that Spanish law only allowed for the disclosure of names and addresses of specific users in criminal cases or those involving national security and not in civil proceedings.
When Promusicae claimed that Spanish law had to be interpreted in accordance with EU laws such as the Copyright Directive, E-Commerce Directive and Privacy and Electronic Communications Directive, the court asked for the guidance of the ECJ.
It asked was it permissible for national laws to protect the privacy of internet users in civil cases. The ECJ said it was.
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