Is Linking Always Legal?

Jean-Pierre Bazinet, a 20-year-old film buff and financial consultant in Ottawa, would seem to be a movie studio's best friend. He runs a Web site called Movie-List that is a collection of links to over 900 movie trailers scattered across the Internet, making it easier to find what are essentially commercials for films.

But late last month, Bazinet removed the links to all trailers for movies from Universal Pictures. Lawyers from the studio had sent letters and e-mail objecting to his linking to Universal trailers without permission.

"I don't feel like taking them to court over it," Bazinet said. "I don't have the money or the power. A big movie studio is a little threatening."

Unfortunately for Bazinet, the legal status of hyperlinking on the World Wide Web is unsettled, say some cyberspace law experts. Especially controversial is the use of so-called "deep" links, which point directly to Web pages or other content within another site, possibly bypassing advertising-rich home pages or other identifying pages.

Until the courts provide clear guidelines, the experts say, powerful intellectual property owners like movie studios will fill the legal vacuum with their untested assumption that deep linking is illegal.

Linking may be the Web's most distinguishing feature, but the law on linking "is up in the air," said Jeffrey R. Kuester, a lawyer who handles many Internet-related cases at Thomas, Kayden, Horstemeyer & Risley, an Atlanta law firm.

There are no court opinions in the United States that directly address the subject, he said, and even the legal tea leaves are confusing.