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Deep Linking Legal in Germany

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the sprechen-sie-deutsch dept.

BlueWonder writes "German news site Heise Online reports a recent decision of the Bundesgerichtshof, the highest court in Germany: Deep linking is not illegal. Newspaper company Verlagsgruppe Handelsblatt had sued the news search engine Paperboy for deep linking to their articles. According to the Bundesgerichtshof, the public interest in a well-working Internet takes precedence over the commercial interests of the newspaper company, even if the advertizing of the company is bypassed. The Bundesgerichtshof has clarified that users can access any page if they know the URL, and deep linking is just a technical simplification for entering the URL manually. (Warning: links go to German sites - use the fish...)"

3 of 142 comments (clear)

  1. Wrong dept. by BgJonson79 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Shouldn't it be from the-no-shit-dept. ?

    --

    There are four boxes used in defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order.

  2. Its Nice to see that someone has some sense by Crashmarik · · Score: 3, Funny

    It's good to see that theres at least one state in the world that isn't rushing to welfare programs for lawyers with pointless laws.

    Imagine if they had ruled deep linking was illegal ? think of the enforcement nightmare.

  3. Search engines? by BenjyD · · Score: 4, Funny

    Wouldn't preventing deep-linking destroy the use of search engines? What would Google do - provide a link to the front page and directions?

    "On the main page, scroll down half way and click on the small link on the right hand side. Close the resulting pop-up and scroll down to the bottom of the next page. Follow the second link from the right and you will find the content you are looking for."