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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...)"

4 of 142 comments (clear)

  1. Some interesting and similiar cases: by BlueTrin · · Score: 5, Informative

    Deep linking illegal under EU law, By Andy McCue, Computing [26-01-2001]

    Danish Court Rules Deep Linking Illegal

    Some examples of companies who forbid deep linking (the last link is full of stupid examples, some websites which would get a great benefit for their popularity from deep linking

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    Don't you know it is now both immoral and criminal to think beyond the next quarterly report?
  2. An english link by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative


    I saw the notice at Links&Law.com.

  3. Re:One noteworthy point not mentioned in the /. st by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    That could be as simple as using the referrer= tag

    1. It's not a tag, it's an HTTP header.
    2. It's not 'referrer', it's 'referer'.
    3. The syntax it appears in is 'Referer: xxx', no = anywhere.

    Agreed on the general "use technical methods before the law" approach though.

  4. Highest Court by Hank+Chinaski · · Score: 2, Informative

    In fact the Bundesgerichtshof is not really the highest court in Germany. It can be overruled by the Bundesverfassungsgericht (www.bverfge.de) which is similiar to the US supreme court i guess.

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    IAAL