- The Superior Court of Germany has revived a legal case that could lead to a prohibition of advertisement blockers for copyright violations
- The case originates from a lawsuit filed by an important German editor against the company behind Adblock Plus
- If this is passed, Germany will be the second country in the world, after China, in prohibiting advertisements
The German Federal Supreme Court (BGH) has questioned the legitimacy of advertisement blockers. The court is now investigating whether these programs, which, by default, block certain elements of a website, can be described as copyright violation.
The case originates from a lawsuit filed by Axel Springer, an important German editor, against Eyeoo GmbH. Eyeo is the company behind Adblock Plus, which is one of the best ad Blocadores according to Techradar reviewers.
If advertisement blockers are prohibited in Germany, the consequences could be much broader than they look at first sight. Not only advertisement blockers could be in danger, it warns of Mozilla, since “such a precedent could complete legal challenges against other extensions that protect privacy, improve accessibility or improve security.”
The legal battle between publishers and ad Blocadores is warming up
Axel Springer Se, which is one of the largest media editors in Europe, has been locked in a legal battle against Eyeoo GmbH, which means Adblock Plus. The editor argues that advertisement blockers interfere with their right to control how their copyright content is presented and shown, which potentially violate the German copyright law, Cyberinsider reported.
For a long time, Adblock Plus has apparently emerged from these legal battles, but that might not be the case this time. The Federal Court of Justice of Germany revoked part of a 2023 decision by a Hamburg Court of Appeals, stating that greater verification was needed.
The question is reduced to whether advertisement blockers really violate copyright laws. The BGH is exploring the interaction between advertisement blockers and several structures of a website, including the browser document object model (DOM) and the CSS object model (CSSOM). The DOM is responsible for all the content to include on a page, and the CSSOM determines how it looks.
The key legal question here is: How is the modification of how a website is shown through tools on the browser side such as advertisement blockers tell how to violate the law? If the German courts say yes, it is an infraction of copyright, Germany could be the second country in the world to ban advertisements, only surpassed by China.
Why this is important for advertisement blockers, and beyond
Ads blockers are one thing. Many of us use them and help us get rid of annoying ads daily. However, if the German courts decide that any type of browser side alterations is a copyright infraction, many similar navigator extensions or tools can also end up being prohibited.
For example, some of the best VPN software also come with advertisement blocking capabilities. There are also extensions or characteristics of the browser that improve accessibility or offer additional protection of privacy and safety, as against phishing. All these tools could be prohibited together with advertisement blockers.
Given the potential danger, it is not surprising that Mozilla, the developer behind Firefox, adopted a strong position on the matter.
In a blog post published earlier this month, the senior lawyer of IP and products of Mozilla, Daniel Nazier, points out that user freedom, privacy and security are at risk if this court ruling is passed and Germany prohibits advertisement blockers.
“We sincerely hope that Germany does not become the second jurisdiction (after China) in prohibiting advertisement blockers. This will significantly limit the user’s ability to control their online environment and open the door to similar restrictions in other places,” Nazier wrote.
The case will now be reviewed by the court in Hamburg, which could take a year or two. Until then, the future of advertisement blockers in Germany will continue to be uncertain, as well as the privacy of data in the country and throughout Europe. If other countries decide to take a page from the Play Book of Germany, we could have a larger legal battle in our hands.
