BEIJING, Jan. 30 (Xinhuanet)-- Europe Union's top court Tuesday ruled record labels and film studios cannot demand that telecom companies hand over the identity of file sharers on peer-to-peer networks.

    The court's decision means that telecom companies can refuse to hand over the names and addresses of people suspected of breaking European copyright rules by swapping illegal downloads.

    The court upheld Spanish telecom company Telefonica SA's right to refuse to hand over information that would identify who had used peer-to-peer file-sharing tool KaZaA to distribute copyrighted material owned by Promusicae, a Spanish nonprofit group of film and music producers.

    "Community law does not require the member states, in order to ensure the effective protection of copyright, to lay down an obligation to disclose personal data in the context of civil proceedings," the court said.

    The European Commission said this month that it would examine ways of boosting the online music and film market without compromising intellectual property rights.

    In the UK, copyright holders can apply to a court to force an internet service provider to disclose information where piracy is suspected. However, the court must be persuaded to make an order and lawyers said this is far from an automatic right.

    "Copyright theft on the internet is the single biggest obstacle to the growth of the music business today," said the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry head John Kennedy.

    "The judgment means that music rights owners can still take civil actions to enforce their rights, and it has sent out a clear signal that member states have to get the right balance between privacy and enforcement of intellectual property rights and that intellectual property rights can neither be ignored nor neglected，" Kennedy said.

    (Agencies)