COPYRIGHTS AND PRIVACY : A "FAIR BALANCE" IS NEEDED.

Deciding between intellectual property and the protection of personal data is a tough balancing act. In a ruling handed down on 29 January, the European Court of Justice believes that member states must find "a fair balance" between these two fundamental rights, protected by EU legislation, so that national interpretations of the directives do not contradict each other.

In this ruling, the court was responding to a preliminary question posed by Madrid's commercial court (Case C-275/06).

At the origin of this litigation: Promusicae, an association of musical and audiovisual editors and producers, accuses users of the Kazaa peer-to-peer file sharing software of violating their intellectual property and of indulging in unfair competition. It therefore asked that internet service provider Telefonica be ordered to reveal the identity and the postal address of its clients.

The operators refused, invoking Spanish law. According to this law, only criminal investigations, safeguarding public safety and defence can force it to divulge this information. In other words, Telefonica refused to comply with such an obligation in the context of the civil proceeding initiated by the Promusicae association.

THIRD-PARTY FREEDOMS

In its response, the court nonetheless revealed that among the exceptions allowed by directives on the protection of personal data there were measures necessary for the protection of the rights and freedoms of third parties...