According to the new ruling of the ECJ, a user sharing an infringing hyperlink without knowing that it is illegal will not be held liable if he doesn’t do it in the course of business. However, if this user knows that the hyperlink is infringing some copyrights and does it in a commercial environment, then his responsibility must be engaged.
Therefore, under article 3(1) of the EU Copyright Directive, the notion of “communication to the public” is to be understand as creating no infringement if the shared hyperlink is shared in good faith in a noncommercial context which is positive for the general public, but there will be infringement if it is made in a commercial one.
This decision is made in a context questioning the tensions between the interest of copyrights holders and the freedom of expression and information of internet users.
Katia Beider & @ATURQUOISE
Source:
http://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/docs/application/pdf/2016-09/cp160092en.pdf
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