- Germany’s supreme court has revived a legal case that could lead to a ban on ad blockers over copyright infringement
- The case stems from a trial brought by a larger German publisher against the company behind Adblock Plus
- If this happens, Germany will be the second country in the world, after China, to ban ad blockers
The German Federal Supreme Court (BGH) has questioned the legitimacy of ad blockers. The court is now investigating whether these programs – which, by default, block certain elements on a site – can be qualified as copyright infringement.
The case stems from a trial brought by Axel Springer, a large German publisher, against EYEO GMBH. Eyeo is the company behind Adblock Plus, which is one of the best ad blockers according to Techradar’s reviewers.
If ad blockers are banned in Germany, the consequences may be far wider than they appear at first glance. It is not only ad blockers that may be at risk, Mozilla warns, as “such a precedent could the office of legal challenges against other extensions that protect privacy, improve accessibility or improve security.”
The legal battle between publishers and ad blockers is heated
Axel Springer SE, which is one of the largest media publishers in Europe, has been locked in a decade long legal battle against Eyeo GmbH, which means Adblock Plus. The publisher claims that ad blockers are disturbing his right to check how its copyrighted content is reproduced and displayed, which potentially violates German copyright law – reported cyberinsides.
For a long time, Adblock Plus has apparently emerged victorious from these legal battles, but that may not be the case this time. Germany’s Federal Court of Justice has overturned parts of a decision from 2023 made by a Hamburg appeal, saying that further fact control was needed.
The question comes to whether ad blockers really break copyright laws. BGH examines the interaction between ad blockers and different structures on a website, including the browser’s document object model (DOM) and CSS object model (CSSOM). Judgment is responsible for all content to be included on a page and CSSOM decides what it looks like.
The most important legal question here is: Does it change how a site appears through tools for browser page as ad blockers, such as breaking the law? If the German courts ruled that yes, it is copyright infringement, Germany could be the second country in the world prohibiting ad blockers, only in second place for China.
Why this means something for ad blockers – and beyond
Ad blockers are one thing. Many of us use them and they help us get rid of annoying ads daily. However, if the German courts decide that any kind of changes in browser side are copyright infringement, many similar browser extensions or tools may also end up being banned.
For example, some of the best VPN software also comes with ad-blocking capabilities. There are also extensions or browser features that improve accessibility or offer additional privacy and security protection, such as against phishing. All of these tools could potentially be banned right with ad blockers.
Given the potential danger, it is no wonder that Mozilla, the developer behind Firefox, took a strong attitude towards the case.
In a blog post published earlier this month, Mozilla’s Senior IP & Product Counsel, Daniel Nazier, notes that user freedom, privacy and security are at risk if this court decision has been adopted and Germany actually prohibits ad blockers.
“We sincerely hope that Germany will not be the second jurisdiction (after China) to ban ad blockers. This will limit users’ ability to control their online environment and potentially open the door to similar limitations elsewhere,” Nazi wrote.
The case will now be reviewed by the court in Hamburg, which may take a year or two. Until then, the future of ad blockers in Germany will remain uncertain, just as data protection in the country and throughout Europe. If other countries decide to take a page out of Germany’s playbook, we could have a bigger legal battle on our hands.
