Fri Aug 15, 2008 10:32 am by James McGuigan
I am not a lawyer, but laws on linking to (as opposed to hosting) copyrighted material on another site should in theory be fine. Though to play it safe, its maybe best to link to web page containing it rather than a direct link to the file itself.
Also note that not alll useage of copyrighted materials is copyright infringment. The right to fair use and satire does still exist. In this case, Gawker have made the call that their use is fair-use, and they are taking the legal risk here, thus it should be safe to link to them.
On a practical side, assuming the ESK server is US based, we would be covered by the DMCA. If we host copyright material, the copyright holder must file a DMCA notice including the link to the file. We would then have 48 hours to either remove the file or submit a counter-notice saying we are within our rights to host it. If we file a counter notice, then they have 14 days to sue us or STFU. This is how it applies for directly hosted material.
The law varies by country and the difference between what a nasty laywer will threaten and what will actually stand up in court can often be quite different, and often depends on the nuances of the legal arguments used. The laws on P2P file sharing and bittorrent trackers relate to the whole issues of linking to copyrighted materials.
Freedom is a choice. Choose to be yourself, choose to speak your truth and do so with compassion. And above all else, choose to be not afraid. If I can't dance, its not my revolution.
