Electronic Resources in the Virtual Learning

Linking to websites
Hyperlinks are the basis of the World Wide Web and far more preferable
from a copyright perspective, as you refer individuals to material rather
than copy it. However, linking is not without problems and there are
some general rules you should follow to avoid copyright issues.
Wherever possible, linking should be ‘surface links’ – to the home page
of a website, rather than ‘deep links’ to the body of a website. In fact
both the two examples used previously, the National Archives and
Amazon, explicitly state in their copyright notice that they encourage
hyperlinking to the home page of their website. Commercial websites
such as Amazon will often require that links are established to their
home page because this is the designated ‘front door’ into the site and
guarantees that advertisements and new information are seen by the user.
Additionally, links to the home page are easier to maintain and less likely
to become ‘dead’ links.
One of the potential problems with hyperlinking is not infringing
copyright, but that it can be construed as ‘passing off’. Passing off is a
common law tort whereby someone attempts to pass off another
person’s products or services as their own. So, for example, if a deep link
to an article is added from one website to another, bypassing the home
page, it may appear as if the article originated from the referring website.
A frequently cited UK case from the late 1990s involved two rival
newspapers, The Shetland Times and The Shetland News, where
objections were made to the use of hyperlinking. The defendant, The
Shetland News, used headlines from a rival newspaper on its own
website. Thinking they were viewing articles posted by The Shetland
News, users could view an entire Shetland Times article by clicking on a
link. In fact, they had followed a deep link to within the Times site,
bypassing customer service information and advertising. The case was
eventually settled out of court in 1997 when the links were removed.
One technique to avoid ‘passing off’ a website as your own content is
to ensure that links open within a new web browser window. This is