Browse To Your Heart's Content?

In a recent decision, the Supreme Court has come to the provisional conclusion that unauthorised browsing of copyright-protected material on the internet will not infringe copyright in that material. 

The Court has, however, asked the CJEU (Court of Justice of the European Union, the EU's highest court) to confirm that it has come to the correct decision because it involves the construction of Article 5(1) of the EU Copyright Directive and has consequences for rights-holders, internet users and intermediaries across the EU. 

In coming to its conclusion, the Court was clearly heavily influenced by what it felt was the acceptable result for society: namely, that many millions of unwitting internet users should not be held liable for copyright infringement simply by browsing copyright-protected material on the internet – just as they would not be held liable for merely viewing such material in its physical form or on a television screen in a private home.