European Court of Justice, UPC Telekabel Wien GmbH v Constantin Film Verleih GmbH and Wega Filmproducktionsgesellschaft mbH, Case C-314/12

The ECJ stated that EU law must be interpreted as not precluding a court injunction that does not specify the measures which an access provider must take to block access to a website making available copyrighted material without the rightsholders’ permission. Additionally, the ECJ concludes that blocking orders can be imposed on access providers when they can avoid incurring coercive penalties for breach of that injunction by showing that they have taken all reasonable measures. According to the ECJ, measures are deemed “reasonable” provided that (i) they do not unnecessarily deprive internet users of the possibility of lawfully accessing the information available and (ii) they have the effect of preventing unauthorized access to copyrighted materials or, at least, of seriously discouraging internet users from accessing infringing materials. The ECJ disregarded a previous opinion of the Advocate General, which came down to opposite conclusions.