EU court rules that VPNs are ’lawful technical tools’ as part of larger copyright judgement regarding The Diary of Anne Frank
The Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled that VPNs are “lawful technical tools which users may legitimately use” in a landmark judgment centered on copyright disputes surrounding The Diary of Anne Frank. The ruling emerged from a complex legal case involving the digital publication and distribution of Anne Frank’s manuscripts across the EU.
The dispute stems from conflicting copyright frameworks across EU member states. While the Anne Frank Fund holds copyright protections on portions of the work until at least 2037 in certain jurisdictions, other countries—including Belgium—have classified the diaries as public domain material. This jurisdictional discrepancy created complications for distributing a Dutch translation of the diaries online.
The European court’s explicit recognition of VPNs as legitimate technical tools carries broader significance amid ongoing global debates over VPN regulation and internet access. The ruling provides legal clarity that using VPNs is not inherently unlawful, even when accessing geographically-restricted content. The judgment reflects growing tensions between copyright enforcement, cultural heritage access, and digital technology regulation in the European legal landscape.