CJEU Judgment on Geoblocking: The Limits of the Borderless Internet

While information on the internet is accessible worldwide at any time, its legal regulations and intellectual property rights are always subject to strict territorial limits. Anyone who publishes content online must therefore be aware of the risk of infringing third-party rights abroad. The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has now ruled that effective geoblocking can prevent such infringements in other countries (judgment of 9 July 2026, Case C-788/24 – Anne Frank Fonds).

The Anne Frank Case: Geoblocking as Protection Against Copyright Claims

The legal proceedings involved a dispute between the Anne Frank Fonds and the Anne Frank Stichting regarding the online publication of the diaries of the world-famous Jewish teenager. While the works are already in the public domain in Belgium, they remain partially protected by copyright in the Netherlands until 2037. The defendants published a scientific edition on a Belgian website but blocked access for users from the Netherlands using geoblocking. The Anne Frank Fonds nevertheless considered this an infringement of its copyrights, arguing that users could bypass the restriction via standard VPN services.

The CJEU ruled that an unauthorized "communication to the public" — and thus an infringement of the copyrights still existing in the Netherlands — does not occur, provided that the geographical restriction is effective. To achieve this, the block must primarily correspond to the latest state of the art. Absolute security is not required. A user-side circumvention by means of VPN services does not automatically render the restriction ineffective.

Relevance Beyond Copyright Law

At the same time, the CJEU emphasizes conversely that an active duty applies to anyone who knows or ought to know about existing intellectual property rights abroad. Anyone who, with knowledge of such rights, fails to implement effective geoblocking measures is deemed to be targeting their content at the entire global audience (para. 42 of the judgment). The CJEU left open when such knowledge (the duty to know) can be assumed. Previous business relationships or the existence of delimitation agreements could already be sufficient.

This duty by no means affects copyright law alone. Geoblocking is also playing an increasingly important role in trademark law. An infringement of a national trademark on the internet requires that the use of the trademark actually takes place within the domestic territory. In this context, courts examine whether the use of the sign produces a noticeable economic effect in the domestic market—the so-called "commercial effect".

Whether such a domestic nexus exists must generally be assessed based on the specific circumstances of each case. Relevant factors include, among others, the language of the website, the top-level domain, information provided on the website, or—if available—specific delivery options, as well as other circumstances such as economic activity in the country. Now confirmed by the CJEU, the absence of geoblocking measures is at least a strong, if not decisive, indication that the website in question is (also) directed at the domestic public. This is likely to be particularly relevant for global websites.

Liability of the Website Operator, Not the VPN Provider

According to the CJEU, it is solely the website operator who is liable for ineffective technical measures — not the VPN provider whose service is used to circumvent them. This applies even if the VPN provider is aware that its service can be used to access protected content without the rights holders’ consent.

Conclusion

The CJEU judgment provides much-needed clarity for online business practices. Geoblocking has become a central tool for legally secure market segmentation in intellectual property law. At the same time, the lack of geoblocking measures can indicate that accessing the content from abroad is intentionally desired. Conversely, anyone who deliberately restricts their online activities to specific countries and implements this technically soundly via geoblocking can effectively eliminate liability risks abroad.