By Sally Watson, 23 September 1998 17:01
NEWS A department store and cosmetics giant have escaped prosecution after a US judge ruled they couldn't be held liable for the content of Web sites they hotlink to. Photographer Gary Bernstein sued J.C. Penny and Elizabeth Arden after a link from a perfume page on the department store's site led to a Swedish site showing an unauthorised reproduction of one of his photos. Bernstein claimed that providing the link violated his copyright. Los Angeles judge Manuel Read dismissed the case, saying the indirect nature of the link meant neither company could be held responsible. Nick Lockett of UK law firm Sidley & Austin was not surprised by the decision. "The general consensus of opinion is that you can link to any site unless you know, or are told, that it contains illegal material," he said. The case is one of the first to test the widely-held legal principle in court. Lockett added: "Unless you know about the infringement you won't incur liability - as long as you remove the link straight away."
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