ECJ To Decide On Online Linking To Content Without Copyright Holder's Consent

The Dutch Supreme Court recently delivered its ruling  in the GeenStijl/Sanoma case. The ruling has two noteworthy aspects. First, the Supreme Court stated that copyright and freedom of speech are both equal fundamental rights that should be weighed against each other. Second, the Supreme Court referred preliminary questions to the European Court of Justice, and the answers may have a major impact on the internet landscape. The questions relate to linking to a source that is freely accessible online, but communicates to the public without the copyright holder's consent. The Supreme Court has submitted additional questions should this linking not be considered a copyright infringement and has asked whether this would be different if the source were not easy to find for the average internet user. The ECJ's answers to these questions will shape how the backbone of the internet is defined in legal terms. As the Supreme Court itself has already noted, this would mean that a