On 13 April 2018, the High Court handed down a landmark judgment which represented the first English court ruling on the so called ‘right to be forgotten,’ established by the Court of Justice of the European Union (‘CJEU’) in Google Spain SL v. Agencia Espanola de Protection de Datos (Case-C-131/12) [2014] QB 1022 (‘Google Spain’). / read more

The Supreme Court of Canada (‘SCC’) recently addressed the difficult issue of when a court should assume jurisdiction in cases involving online defamation. The case demonstrates the difficulty that borderless communications continue to pose to the application of traditional common-law principles. / read more

In June 2018 the Vienna Commercial Court, at first instance, handed down a landmark decision on Google Inc.’s liability for copyright infringements on its YouTube platform, after Austrian broadcaster Puls4, whose content had been distributed via YouTube without its consent, filed a claim against Google arguing that the platform would not qualify as a host provider under the E-Commerce Directive (Directive (EU) 2000/31) (‘the E-Commerce Directive’). / read more

In the long-awaited judgment in this case, BT and EE’s appeal that they should not have to bear the costs of complying with website blocking injunctions was unanimously upheld by the UK Supreme Court. The case represents a landmark victory for internet service providers (‘ISPs’) and provides clarity on where the costs of implementing website blocking injunctions fall. / read more

Early skirmishes in an important abuse of dominance case relating to app developers and mobile platforms reveal little significance as to the strength of the arguments but much crucial importance in the questions being put to the Court as regards the future of these markets. Two important preliminary judgments in Unlockd’s battle with Google provide some insights into this important case, which will continue despite Unlockd’s move into voluntary administration following the judgments. / read more

In an Opinion delivered on 3 May 2018 in case C-207/16 Ministerio Fiscal, the Advocate General proposed that criminal offences that are not particularly serious may justify in certain cases disclosure of electronic communications metadata. / read more

The Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court has recently prohibited grey market sales of luxury cosmetics both on- and offline. With this landmark decision, a higher German court has, as far as can be seen, for the first time recognised that manufacturers of luxury goods can put a halt on the sale of grey market goods if their products are sold in an environment potentially damaging to their reputation and image. / read more

On 16 May 2018, the EU General Court ruled that an appeal by Netflix against a Commission decision - finding the conditional extension of liability for a German levy to video on demand services established outside Germany, but receiving revenue from customers in Germany through an internet presence offering content in the German language, is compatible with the internal market - was inadmissible¹. / read more

The UK’s First Tier Tribunal has found that digital versions of The Times and The Sunday Times among other publications by News Corp UK & Ireland cannot not be considered ‘newspapers’ for VAT purposes, and so supplies of digital newspapers cannot be treated as zero-rated supplies of printed newspapers and books under the Value Added Tax Act 1994 (‘VATA’). / read more

The Court of Justice of the European Union (‘CJEU’) has found that the privacy activist, Maximilian Schrems, can take legal action in Austria against Facebook Ireland Ltd (‘Facebook’) in his own capacity, but not on behalf of others. The CJEU found that Mr Schrems was a ‘consumer’ under Article 15 of the Brussels Regulation (44//2001/EC) (‘Regulation’) and therefore had the right to sue Facebook in the country of his domicile (in this case Austria). / read more