Scholars have brought up a copyright case to the Court of Justice of the European Union in order to make it illegal to share a link to a site that has copyrighted information and is therefore illegal to see. The case started when someone who wrote an article referenced another article and which shared from then on. The group of scholars are trying to sue the person for making illegal content open to the web. This case seems pretty hard to go towards the scholars sides, as this practice is so prominent and hard to blame copyright infringement on the person sharing the link. Plus, this case can have tremendous implication for the internet at large in the future. Half of what is on the internet are links that are shared illegally. For example, every time someone search on Google, there is an illegal link (not approve by owner) that Google dug up from the internet at large. Plus, if someone downloads a torrent to watch music or movie then whoever shared that link can be sued for lots of money. This would have implications for everyone who owns a site or shares info on the internet as they would need permission to post everything. the internet would be a different place and because of that, then I thin a law like that would take a while to pass.
http://torrentfreak.com/hyperlinking-is-not-copyright-infringement-scholars-say-130218/
I also think that the scholars are not going to win their case. When something is posted on the internet it can easily be compromised by a third party and if that results in public disclosure then that individual looses their rights to that information. This is exactly the same as when an entrepreneur shares his invention or idea on line. If it is publicly disclosed that entrepreneur can no longer patent that innovation.
ReplyDeleteI understand the desire to protect copyrighted information but to seek legal reparation for a third party sharing a link to infringing material seems a very round-about way to do it.
ReplyDeleteThe real focus of the case should be the site who has the illegally posted information in the first place. Going after people who have linked to it makes for a difficult case against people who may not even have known they were doing anything wrong. Not to mention the fact that it makes the scholars look like the bad guys in the realm of public opinion.
This is pretty ridiculous. This goes to show how the patent system has a difficult time dealing with web related issues. In fact, it may seem better to dedicate specific laws to the function of internet activity
ReplyDeleteThis case does seem pretty ridiculous and I do see it really hard to pass, as it will have major implications for so many companies.
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