Is deep linking legal? U.S. District Judge
says "No"!
U.S. District Judge Sam Lindsay in the northern
district of Texas granted a preliminary injunction against Robert Davis, who did
no more than providing direct links to the live audiocasts of motorcycle racing
events through his site supercrosslive.com. According to the court, the
unauthorized link to the SFX webcast would likely qualify as a copied display or
performance of plaintiff's copyrightable material (the judge was already
critisized for failing to understand the internet). "SFX will likely suffer
immediate and irreparable harm when the new racing season begins in mid-December
2006 if Davis is not enjoined from posting links to the live racing Webcasts.
The court agrees that if Davis is not enjoined from providing unauthorized
Webcast links on his Web site, SFX will lose its ability to sell sponsorships or
advertisement on the basis that it is the exclusive source of the Webcasts, and
such loss will cause irreparable harm."
Live Nation Motor Sports, Inc. v. Davis, 2006 WL
361983 (N.D. Tex. Dec. 12, 2006).
December 21, 2006: McCullagh, Declan, Judge:
Can't link to Webcast if copyright owner objects, CNet:
"A federal judge in Texas has ruled that it is unlawful to provide a
hyperlink to a Webcast if the copyright owner objects to it."
January 23, 2007:
Texas court bans deep linking, The Register:
"A court in Dallas, Texas has found a website operator liable for copyright
infringement because his site linked to an 'audio webcast' without
permission."
