Probably the case that's in everyone's mind at the moment is the Mainpost
vs. NewsClub case in Germany which seems to strike a blow to deep-linking.
However, I don't think the US (or Canada) has a "Database Directive" like
the European Union and proabably wouldn't affect business outside of the EU.
Stefan Bechtold (http://www.jura.uni-tuebingen.de/~s-bes1/) has a page on
linking that provides citations useful to the discussion.
Setting aside the informational contribution at the moment, I'd suggest that
deep-linking ought to be seen as no different than a citation in the
non-electronic world. Simply having a way to directly access the information
should not change that basic practise. In fact, electronic publishers do
themselves the danger of making themselves irrelevant by insisting on not
allowing deep-linking. Consider, for a moment, a child who does an essay
using online newspapers. As any schoolchild knows, you have to support your
statements in an essay and so provides the links to the specific articles
he/she used and e-mails the essay to their teacher in html format. Would the
child be a copyright violator? Would any self-respecting publisher want to
pursue that child for copyright violation? Perhaps what's needed is a code
of conduct where linkers agree to contextualize the links appropriately (as
you would a non-electronic citation with the author, publisher, etc.) and
that electronic publishers would provide persistent links to all content in
a reasonable fashion -- thus for paid content they might provide a link to
an abstract with a request for payment to view the full item while for
freely available content, the link to jump directly to the content (and
whatever advertising they need to support the publishing of the content).
Those who choose not to provide the persistent links would ultimately be
ignored as being irrelevant to global intellectual discourse.
---------------------------------
Tim Au Yeung
Manager, Digitization Initiatives
Information Resources
University of Calgary
Contact Information:
Phone: (403) 220-8975
Mailing Address:
Mackimmie Library Tower
2500 University Drive NW
Calgary, Alberta, CA
T2N 1N4
----- Original Message -----
From: "Kevin Grierson" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, November 11, 2002 9:48 AM
Subject: RE: IP SIG: Fair Use Barbie
As it stands now, there are no cases out there (at least that I've heard
yet) that have found linking, even deep linking, to be a violation of
anyone's intellectual property rights under U.S. law. Certain forms of
linking, such as inline linking, in which the content of one site is
presented as though it originated on another, can be prohibited, but merely
providing a link without more (such as presenting the link in a way that
falsely suggests an affiliation between the linker and linkee) doesn't
appear to be actionable.
My concern is that by acquiescing to a web site owner's claim of a right
that does not exist, we may create that right be default. That's one of the
reasons why NPR's site now has thousands of links to it in various weblogs.
I am by no means a copyright anarchist or someone who believes that IP
rights don't exist on the internet (I am, in fact, an IP attorney and
enforce those rights on behalf of my clients). But given that the very
viability of the internet depends on the ability to link, I would be
extremely anxious about anyone's attempt to lay claim to a "right" regarding
such linking that did not heretofore exist.
kwg
Kevin W. Grierson
Willcox & Savage, P.C.
1800 Bank of America Center
One Commercial Place
Norfolk, Virginia 23510
mailto:[email protected]
ph: 757/628-5603 fx: 757/628-5566
http://www.wilsav.com
Subscribe to our E-commerce newsletter at
http://www.willcoxandsavage.com/pubs_maillist.html
>>> <[email protected]> 11/11/02 11:25AM >>>
Hi,
(A lurker comes out of the woodwork...)
It seems to me that there ought to be a clear difference between page links
added to another's site, and links emailed (even by a listserve) to
interested individuals.
After all, if NPR, to give an example, did not want people to know about
their content, why would they have a public web page?
However, things are probably not as clear as they seem.
Cheryl
Cheryl Desmond, Registrar
Independence Seaport Museum
211 S. Columbus Boulevard
Philadelphia, PA 19106-3199
Tel: 215.413.8629
Fax: 215.925.6713
Email: [email protected]
Web: <http://phillyseaport.org/>
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Monday, November 11, 2002 10:28 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: RE: IP SIG: Fair Use Barbie
The restriction on the linking business was suggested by me - and became my
personal nightmare as editor of eSpectra, our online journal. I've decided
that absent a discussion at an executive level within MCN, the interim
approach would be to link directly to content within a site unless there
are express provisions in the site's rules of use prohibiting me from doing
so. I'd like to hear thoughts on this list-serv concerning this approach
because essentially all of eSpectra is a series of links....
Rina Pantalony
"Kevin Grierson" <[email protected]> on 11/11/2002 08:57:13 AM
Please respond to [email protected]
To: [email protected]
cc:
Subject: RE: IP SIG: Fair Use Barbie
And NPR (www.npr.org) doesn't want you to link to their site without
permission either. Some publishers may want you to read their articles
only by candlelight in front of your home PC, but saying it doesn't make it
enforceable.
I don't mean to pick on Amalyah, but this particular type of restriction
galls me and I don't believe it's legally enforceable. They are, in
essence, claiming that there's something you can't "say" online.
kwg
Kevin W. Grierson
Willcox & Savage, P.C.
1800 Bank of America Center
One Commercial Place
Norfolk, Virginia 23510
mailto:[email protected]
ph: 757/628-5603 fx: 757/628-5566
http://www.wilsav.com
Subscribe to our E-commerce newsletter at
http://www.willcoxandsavage.com/pubs_maillist.html
>>> <[email protected]> 11/11/02 02:58AM >>>
On their site, at the bottom, "Terms and Conditions."
Amalyah
-----Original Message-----
From: Kevin Grierson [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: +æ 11/11/2002 02:42
To: [email protected]
Cc:
Subject: Re: IP SIG: Fair Use Barbie
Amalyah,
If you have a cite for your statement about unauthorized linking, I'd like
to see it.
kwg
<<< [email protected] 11/10 1:31p >>>
"Showing Barbie Doll's Head on Sex Web Site May Be Fair Use"
"Toy manufacturer Mattel is not entitled to summary judgment in a
copyright
infringement case against a British woman who sold sexually explicit dolls
made partly with Mattel's SuperStar Barbie head, a federal judge in New
York has ruled. The judge found that the defendant's statements about
artistic expression and parody raised the affirmative defense of fair
use."
Since unauthorized hyperlinking is restricted: go to <www.law.com> ,
click on the IP section under "Practice Centers", and scroll down to find
the story.
Amalyah Keshet
Director of Image Resources & Copyright Management
The Israel Museum, Jerusalem www.imj.org.il
Board of Directors, the Museum Computer Network www.mcn.edu
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