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ARTICLE · 27 SEPTEMBER 2001

Case Adds More Uncertainty To Web Copyright Laws

McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff
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United StatesIntellectual Property
Stephen Lesavich
Stephen Lesavich

Originally Published in the National Law Journal (Vol. 22, No. 23) on January 31, 2000, at C9.

Republished as the "In Depth Feature" in the February 8, 2000, (Vol. 2, No. 6) edition of E-Commerce Law Weekly, at 160.

Utah court finds contributory infringement for encouraging use of links to infringing sites.

On Dec. 6, 1999, U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell issued a preliminary injunction in Salt Lake City against the Utah Lighthouse Ministry. It prohibited Jerald and Sandra Tanner from posting e-mail and other text on their Web site, including information about links to third-party Web sites containing pirated copies of a copyrighted handbook owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS).1 Judge Campbell concluded that the Tanners were engaging in contributory copyright infringement by actively encouraging others to locate, browse and/or copy the copyrighted handbook.

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