Since 2015, the Axel Springer Press Group, which significantly publishes the Bild tabloides and conservative journalist Die Welt, is looking to have advertising blockers. He was found in the Court in front of the Adblock Plus extension editor, Eyeo, for ten years.
If until now, Axel Springer had to face judgments against him, a recent decision of the German Federal Court could tip the fate of these extensions (sometimes integrated into browsers) that are very popular among Internet users.
A curious issue of “copyright”
The press group has presented several arguments, including competition. Axel Springer reproached Adblock more for bringing prejudice in view of the deficit represented by the navigation of a user without any advertising. Filled for the first time, then tried to affirm the violation of copyright. For Axel Springer, an advertising blocker deeply modified the HTML code (which represents 95% of a page) of a site. Despite a call, the company was finally discovered by the Hamburg Court of Appeals in 2023.
But since then this judgment has been questioned by the Federal Court, which explains that the sentence issued was not motivated enough, 01net reveals. According to her, the HTML code generated when a web page (with or without AD) is shown cannot be excluded from copyright.
If the Federal Court’s decision says nothing about the action of an advertising blocker, this, however, relates the judicial trip and, therefore, the risk that this type of extensions will simply be prohibited on the other side of the RIN.
A threat to “an open internet”?
In 2023, Adguard, another advertising blocker, spoke of “a great free internet victory” and Eyeoo, the adblock plus editor, had estimated that it was a “victory for an open internet.”
Two years later, you must start over, which makes Mozilla, creator of the Firefox browser and a fervent defender of advertising blockers, furious: “When Zap pubs on television, you throw an unnecessary insert of a newspaper or omit the ads in a podcast, do not get the right of copyright. Why would it be the opposite?”
If the final judgment, whether or not against advertising blockers, will only refer to Germany, however, it could be jurisprudence throughout Europe. Even if the copyright is not quite the same everywhere, certain media groups could take advantage of it to interfere in the violation, thus opened by the German justice.
However, remember that many websites work thanks to the income generated by advertising. Therefore, a dry advertising blocker the economic base, especially among the “free” media. Google has tried to stop the increase in advertising blockers by largely limiting its ability to intervene on web pages for several months. Blockers such as Ublock Origin had to offer lightened versions (or “light”) to comply with the new rules and remain available in chrome browsers (such as Chrome, Edge …).
Source: BFM TV
