Hyperlinking To Unauthorised Content Does Not Itself Constitute Copyright Infringement, Says Advocate General

The Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) has stated in a legal opinion that posting a link to a website that contains "freely accessible" copyright infringing content should not itself amount to copyright infringement.

The non-binding opinion given by the Advocate General relates to a case to be ruled on by the CJEU later this year brought by Sanoma Media Netherlands BV (Sanoma), the publisher of Playboy magazine, against GS Media BV (GS Media).

Alleged infringement over Playboy pictures Sanoma commissioned a Playboy photoshoot of Britt Dekker, a popular figure in the Dutch media. GeenStijl, the website operated by GS Media, posted a hyperlink to a third party website where users could download the commissioned pictures. GS Media then repeatedly refused Sanoma's requests to remove the hyperlink from its website and even posted links to alternative websites, where the photographs could also be downloaded. As a result of this, the publisher