Brein vs. Techno Design: Facilitating piracy deemed unlawful

The Court of Appeal of Amsterdam, 15 June 2006, Judgment in the summary proceedings, in the case between Stichting Brein and Techno Design “Internet Programmering” B.V.

"It must be pointed out that Techno Design obtained income from its search engine. Its income from advertising increased as it attracted more visitors to its website, and it had a larger market for the ringtones it was offering for sale. The number of visitors depended on the scope which its search enige offered for finding mp3 music files, largely unauthorised mp3 music files: more links to mp3 music files meant more visitors. Techno Design therefore not only enabled its visitors to download unauthorisex mp3 music files, it went one step further: its enterprises or the turnover made therewith was largely based, or at any rate to an important extent based on the availability of unauthorisex mp3 music files."

"The conclusion that Techno Design is acting tortiously is not impeded by the fact that it warned its visitors against downloading unauthorised mp3 music files. That warning is inadequate, as it wrongly ignores the reality – of which Techno Design was aware – that most of its visitors were looking for unauthorised mp3 music files and that they tended to completely ignore such a warning. Techno Design was therefore nog entitled to assume that its warning would prevent an infringement of copyrights and neighbouring rights."
"Finally, the fact that it is not yet easy, technically, to ensure that a search engine distinguishes between authorized and unauthorised mp3 music files under the conditions in which Techno Design operatesd does not give Techno Design any relevant excuse for its actions."

Read the entire judgment here (judgment made available by Bas Vissers, Stichting Brein).

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