From today’s judgment in the Scarlet Extended case, holding that European Union law prohibits national courts from imposing an injunction that requires an internet service provider to install a filtering system to prevent the illegal downloading of files:

            The protection of the right to intellectual property is . . . enshrined in . . . the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union . . . . There is, however, nothing whatsoever in the wording of that provision or in the Court’s case-law to suggest that that right is inviolable and must for that reason be absolutely protected. . . . [T]he protection of the fundamental right to property, which includes the rights linked to intellectual property, must be balanced against the protection of other fundamental rights. More specifically, . . . in the context of measures adopted to protect copyright holders, national authorities and courts must strike a fair balance between the protection of copyright and the protection of the fundamental rights of individuals who are affected by such measures.”

Indeed.