A link to another website might get you in trouble. %CUT%Many websites include links to other websites. It’s a useful way to build browser traffic to the website and to benefit the linked website. But what happens if clicking on the link sends your user to a website that’s infringing on someone’s copyright? In the U.S., most courts have held that linking isn’t contributory copyright infringement because there’s usually no way to control or stop the infringement on the linked website. Due to a recent case in Europe, the same may not be true in the E.U. The Court of Justice of the E.U. ruled in GS Media BV v. Sanoma, that linking to a website that contained infringing material was infringement. The E.U. court held that the defendant was liable because it knew or had reason to know that the link sent a user to a website with infringing material.

Copyright Law may be the key to who owns the design of a video game promotional item. %CUT% In the popular video game, the Sims, a green icon called a “PlumbBob” identifies the character in play. The game’s manufacturer, Electronic Arts, Inc. decided it would be a great idea to include a USB drive that looked like the PlumbBob as a promotional item to be sold with the games. EA hired Lithomania who hired Direct Tech to make up a prototype and eventually manufacture the item. Lithomania then sent the prototype to a Chinese company to manufacture the USB for less than what Direct Tech was going to charge. Lithomania didn’t tell Direct Tech. Instead, it strung Direct Tech along with a series of agreements including an agreement to assign the IP in the USB. Direct Tech didn’t realize it lost the sale when the PlumbBobs appeared in stores. Direct Tech sued Lithomania for breach of contract and they settled. Then Direct Tech sued EA for copyright infringement and trade secret misappropriation. The district court granted summary judgment to EA. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment on the trade secrets claim. But the Court reversed and remanded on the copyright claims. There were two issues of fact, namely: (1) whether the USB design was copyrightable because it was conceptually different from the utilitarian aspects of a USB; and (2) whether the USB design is a sufficiently original and non-trivial version of the original to be considered a derivative work.