A German Court Just Revived a Lawsuit That Could Make Ad Blockers Illegal
A heated debate is unfolding in Germany—one that could directly affect millions of internet users. At the center of the controversy are ad blockers, familiar tools that strip away intrusive banners, speed up website loading, and shield users from online tracking. The Federal Court of Justice of Germany has issued a ruling that casts doubt on the legality of their use, potentially treating such extensions as objects of copyright.
The situation can be illustrated with a simple analogy. When someone leaves for a snack during a television commercial break, skips ads in a podcast, or discards an unwanted page from a newspaper, no one considers it a violation of the law. Yet when the same is done in a browser through an extension, the court has unexpectedly perceived it as a potential breach of copyright. According to Mozilla, this approach threatens user freedom, privacy, and security.
The issue extends far beyond advertising. Users frequently alter the way pages are displayed for greater convenience: to improve accessibility, evaluate interface design, defend against trackers and malicious code, or simply optimize system performance. A browser that disallowed any intervention in the loaded code, experts warn, would become an inherently dangerous tool.
The legal battle over ad blockers in Germany has already stretched on for more than a decade. Publishing giant Axel Springer has long been in litigation with Eyeo, the developer of Adblock Plus. Until recently, the courts largely sided with Eyeo: in 2022, the Hamburg Higher Regional Court ruled that the extension did not infringe copyright but merely allowed users to decide for themselves how to render web pages.
However, on July 31, 2025, the Federal Court of Justice partially overturned that decision and remanded the case for further review. The lower court must now carefully determine which elements of a website are modified by ad blockers—whether bytecode, object code, or other components—and whether these fall under copyright protection. The final proceedings could drag on for several more years.
Mozilla has expressed hope that Germany will not become the second country after China to effectively ban ad blockers. Otherwise, users would not only lose control over their own online environment but also face a dangerous precedent: any browser extension that enhances privacy and security could come under threat. In the long term, such restrictions could stifle innovation and fundamentally alter the nature of the internet, making it more closed and far less user-friendly.
