Role of Blocking Injunctions in Balancing the Right of Individuals and Rights of Intellectual Property Owners

Abstract

Beginning the year 2010, a strong trend of courts, across the European Union (EU) including United Kingdom, issuing blocking injunctions against Internet Service Providers (ISPs). These injunctions are issued by courts for infringement of intellectual property (IP) rights. The continuous streaming of such blocking injunctions against ISPs for employing technological means to make access difficult to the websites infringing the IP right has become a topic of hot debate among the students of law and human rights. The debate mainly revolves around the question of maintaining the balance between the rights of the holders of IP and rights of others like intermediaries and individuals accessing the internet including the fundamental rights of freedom of expression, which is precisely the scope of this article.

Keywords: Intellectual Property (IP) Rights, IPR, Infringement of Intellectual Property (IP) Rights, EU Court of Human Rights