Case number and/or case name
OLG München, 12.9.2011 – 29 W 1634/11
Summary
The participant (1) applied for a decision pursuant to § 101 IX UrhG (German Copyright Law) according to which the participant (2) who provides access to the internet would have been obliged to save IP addresses and data of internet users. The Regional Court denied the international jurisdiction of German courts.
The court denied the international jurisdiction of German courts in view of proceedings concerning § 101 IX UrhG because the rule didn’t lead into litigations within the meaning of Brussels I. The proceeding pursuant to § 101 IX UrhG wasn’t an adversarial proceeding directed against a third person but a proceeding that concerned a prior judicial decision which allows the use of data for the granting of information. The court considered a preliminary request pursuant to Art 267 TFEU but then came to the conclusion that this wasn’t necessary because there was given an acte clair.
The proceeding under § 101 IX UrhG doesn’t directly concern a litigation between two parties, therefore it seems reasonable to deny the international jurisdiction by stating that there is no ‘civil matter’ within the meaning of Art. 1 Brussels I.