Providing hyperlinks to third party sites where users may download infringing copies of sound recordings is itself a form of copyright infringement , the Federal Court of Australia ruled July 14 (Universal Music Australia Pty Ltd. v. Cooper, Fed. Ct. Austl., [2005] FCA 972, 7/14/05). The ruling marks the first time that an Australian court has imputed liability against a Web site for linking to infringing content. In another first, the court also ruled that the Internet service provider that hosted the site is likewise liable for infringement, as are its individual employees.
The FCA ruled that Stephen Cooper, the owner of the site mp3s4free.net, had authorized copyright infringement, even though music files were not downloaded on or saved to Cooper's site or the host server of Cooper's website. Cooper's ISP, E-Talk Communications Pty Ltd. trading as Com-Cen Internet Services, was also find liable. A director and a staff member of the ISP were also found to have authorized copyright breaches. The ISP hosted Cooper's site in exchange for free advertising. The case alleging breaches of Australia's Copyright Act 1968 was initiated by six Australian music companies and 25 foreign corporations holding copyright in sound recordings.
Michael Williams, partner in the law firm Gilbert and Tobin and counsel for the music company plaintiffs, told BNA that the case was "the first test" of how digital copyright provisions inserted into the Copyright Act in 2000 applied to Internet activity. "This decision follows American decisions that have held hyperlinking to infringe copyright."
Full text of decision is available at the Australasian Legal Information Institute, http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/federal_ct/2005/972.html
The law blog that focuses on ICT and IP Law in South Africa, EU and the USA
No comments:
Post a Comment