[gusennan]

I agree it's good news that the project complied with the original court order from 2018, which was to block the works on German IP addresses that are still under German copyright law. Why would American copyright law apply in Germany? It's a bit disingenous of Project G that, instead of blocking access to just these books in Germany, they blocked access to the all the books. That was project G's, and not the German court's, decision. I'm glad they've changed their minds.

[mannerheim]

> Why would American copyright law apply in Germany?

It doesn't. Project Gutenberg is an American entity, and operated entirely in the US. This is like asking why should American free speech laws apply in Thailand in regards to Thailand enforcing lèse-majesté laws on an American website.

[Archelaos]

> and operated entirely in the US.

The problem is that it sent copyrighted files to Germany (outside the U.S.). The court order only demands to stop this.

I doubt that the order is enforcible on U.S. soil. But if individuals associated with an uncomplying organization set foot in or have assets in a territory where the order could be enforced, they risk real consequences.

[nybble41]

It is unreasonable that an individual who is neither a German citizen nor within German territory would later be subject to "real consequences" from the German legal system for actions which were perfectly legal in the time and place where they were performed. Even if they do later travel to Germany. This concept of extraterritorial jurisdiction needs to stop before we end up with a dystopia where either (a) no one can travel anywhere for fear of arrest based on something they did legally elsewhere, or (b) everyone is forced to comply with every law in every global jurisdiction at all times (even the conflicting ones which are impossible to satisfy) no matter where they happen to be or what the local laws may permit.

Even if Germany should decide to be unreasonable and claim global jurisdiction, it should either bar the offending individuals from entering altogether or grant them immunity under German law during their stay for anything done outside the country beforehand. Knowingly inviting someone in only to prosecute them would be a gross violation of the basic principles of hospitality.

If Germany doesn't want certain data coming in to their country they are welcome to erect a firewall at their border, at their own expense, to prevent their own residents from accessing it. Of course that still infringes the natural rights of the German residents, but that is an internal matter between the German government and those living there, who presumably would be permitted to leave if they so desired. It is not the place of non-German server operators to enforce German censorship laws, including but not limited to copyright.

[mannerheim]

US websites which insult the Thai monarchy also send illegal files to Thailand.