Can links kill?, Guardian, 12/30/08

The Guardian: Can links kill?, Linking to online content is the essence of the web. But for newspapers, when does it cross the line to stealing content?:

"The future of online journalism may depend on the outcome of a legal battle between two financially ailing media giants [The New York Times Company and GateHouse Media]...

GateHouse has sued the Times Company for copyright infringement and related charges, claiming that the Your Town sites are an attempt to steal the content of GateHouse's Wicked Local websites for the Times's own commercial gain.

It's easy to take the Times's side in this battle. Linking, after all, is the essence of the web. Some of the smartest people in media are pushing news executives to look beyond their own walls and link to outside content, whether through blogging or something more comprehensive...

But wait. There's another side here, and it deserves to be carefully pondered rather than mockingly dismissed.

Seen from GateHouse's point of view, a Your Town site – for instance this one covering the town of Needham – links not just to a few stories, but scoops up every item of interest from GateHouse's Needham Times, making it unnecessary for anyone to visit the Wicked Local Needham homepage...

GateHouse managers have a right to complain, and to take retaliatory action. (In its legal complaint (pdf), the company says it failed in an attempt to make it technologically impossible for the Globe to link to its stories. But there are other steps it could consider.)...

Legitimate linking practices could come under unwarranted legal scrutiny as well...

The case – GateHouse Media v New York Times Company – is scheduled to go to trial on January 5 in US District Court. (Judge William Young has already rejected GateHouse's request for a temporary restraining order.)"

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2008/dec/30/new-york-times-gatehouse-lawsuit