Spanish court sides with NordVPN and rejects LaLiga calls for piracy fines

A court in Spain has rejected calls to fine NordVPN over alleged non-compliance with blocking orders.

NordVPN, which ranks first in our guide to the best VPNs, was targeted by LaLiga, Spain's soccer administrator, back in February 2026. Along with others, the privacy firm was ordered to block certain IP addresses to prevent the illegal streaming of matches.

NordVPN refused to do this, and subsequently LaLiga called for the VPN to be fined. However, the Commercial Court of Córdoba has dismissed the request following NordVPN's submission of technical evidence.

Proceedings are still ongoing, but NordVPN says the ruling "marks an important step in recognising the consequences of such indiscriminate blocking."

Technical impossibility

On May 19, the Commercial Court of Córdoba dismissed calls from LaLiga to "impose coercive fines" on NordVPN for allegedly failing to comply with interim blocking orders.

The case was first heard in February 2026, as VPNs – including NordVPN – were ordered to block IP addresses used to illegally stream Spanish soccer matches. At the time, NordVPN said blocks were "ultimately ineffective in combating piracy" and claimed it had no opportunity to defend itself in court.

At the time, and over the following months, NordVPN's experts argued it "was not technically possible" to block IPs "without harming thousands of lawful websites in Spain and beyond."

NordVPN said these experts demonstrated two things in court. It explained that the aforementioned IP addresses "change constantly" – often occurring within hours. The list of IPs supplied would therefore not match, and blocking couldn't take place.

Secondly, NordVPN argued the "blanket" blocking demanded would see "thousands of entirely lawful websites inaccessible to users in Spain and beyond."

LaLiga believed NordVPN "had deliberately and without justification breached the order" and called for fines. But the judge accepted NordVPN's report and ruled the fines were not warranted.

Proceedings for the case are still ongoing, and NordVPN has said it "will continue to engage with the Spanish courts in good faith." It added that "technical concerns [around IP blocking] are real and evidenced," and it welcomed the court's recognition of this view.

Not an isolated case

LaLiga's attempts to pull VPNs into its fight against piracy is not an isolated case. Cloudflare and GitHub are two services which have been intermittently inaccessible to Spanish users during soccer match windows, and many groups have documented this disruption.

In France, Canal+, alongside France's soccer governing body, won a case in May 2025 which ordered VPNs to block over 200 illegal streaming sites. In June 2025, the Motion Picture Association (MPA) – which represents Disney+, Netflix, and Warner Bros. – called on VPNs to block online piracy sites.

VPNs have constantly stressed they do not support piracy, but argue mass blocking is not the appropriate way to tackle it, and warn of widespread collateral damage.

NordVPN is one of those VPNs, and explained how its position hasn't changed. NordVPN said: "Protecting intellectual property is a legitimate goal, and rights holders are entitled to effective remedies. But the means used to achieve those remedies must be proportionate, technically sound, and respectful of everyone who depends on the same shared infrastructure."

"Blanket IP blocking imposed on VPN providers fails on each of those counts. It does not stop determined infringers, who adapt within minutes, and it imposes real costs on users, businesses, and lawful services that have nothing to do with the underlying dispute."

NordVPN thanked the Córdoba court for its engagement. It reaffirmed the level of standards displayed by the court are what's needed across Spain and Europe.