Judge delays ruling on whether to force BT to block pirate site

The UK high court has delayed its decision on whether to force BT to prevent users of its broadband service from accessing illegal file-sharing website Newzbin.

A ruling on the test case between BT and the Motion Picture Association (MPA) is not expected to be made until the end of July.

His Honour Mr Justice Arnold is waiting for the ruling from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on a similar case before he decides to grant an injunction to the MPA. The injunction would force BT to block access to file-sharing website Newzbin.

If the MPA is successful in its bid, it will be the first time that Section 97A of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act has been used against an ISP.

BT said this could lead to hundreds of rights holders using the law to force internet service providers (ISPs) to block access to websites they believe are facilitating illegal file sharing.

The ISP said: "This is an important test case since it is the first attempt to get an injunction against an ISP to block a website under UK copyright law. Significant legal and practical issues have been raised in the hearing and we await the judge's decision."

The MPA, which represents movie studios such as Warner Bros, Disney and Paramount, brought legal action against BT after it failed to kill off the Newzbin operation, despite a successful legal challenge.

Last year it won its case in the high court against Newzbin, which it accused of providing links to illegal downloads of hundreds of movies. However, the company, which was based in the UK, put itself into administration and moved its operation offshore, outside of British jurisdiction.

According to the Guardian, the MPA told Judge Arnold that Newzbin was costing the movie industry "several hundreds of millions of pounds a year" and was "infringing copyright on an enormous scale" – including offering 75 illegal versions of The King's Speech.

However, BT lawyers said if the MPA is granted an injunction, it would be the "thin edge of the wedge".

Yesterday Judge Arnold said he would wait to hear the outcome of a case between Ebay and L'Oreal that he had referred to the ECJ in 2009.

This case will establish whether Ebay is responsible for sponsored links for L'Oreal products, which the cosmetics giant says hinders its attempts to prevent the sale of counterfeit and grey market perfumes and cosmetics via eBay.

The outcome of this is expected to be given around 12 July. BT and the MPA then have seven days in which to submit their responses to the high court.