Hyperlink to Webcast Not "Fair Use"
by: Tamera H. Bennett In December 2006 a U.S. District Judge in the Northern District of Texas (Dallas) granted a preliminary injunction against Robert Davis, who operated Supercrosslive.com and had been providing direct links to the live audiocasts of motorcycle racing events.
SFX Motor Sports Inc., filed suit against Davis for trademark infringement, copyright infringement and unfair competition. SFX claimed Davis' real time streaming of SFX owned broadcasts of racing events constituted copyright infringement.
The Judge ruled "the link Davis provides on his Web site is not a 'fair use' of copyright material" and ordered him to cease linking directly to streaming audio files.
