StepStone ASA, has obtained an injunction under new EU copyright and database regulations preventing a rival from providing hypertext links to StepStone's online job advertisements.
IT law specialists Osborne Clarke OWA obtained an injunction for StepStone against Danish media group OFiR in Germany restraining OFiR from using hypertext links to StepStone's German job site.
It is one of the first cases in which the new EU Copyright and Databases Regulations (the Database Regulations) have been successfully used to control hypertext links over the Internet.
Following this action, OFiR, which owns companies with online recruitment portals in the UK (via joint venture ClickAJob), Germany, Denmark and France - among StepStone's most active territories, has removed hypertext links to StepStone's sites.
StepStone sought the injunction because OFiR was using the link to substantiate a claim about the large quantity of jobs available via its site. StepStone deemed this action to be prejudicial to its brand position in the long term. In addition OFiR were 'deep linking' to the StepStone site which meant visitors were not taken to the home page and therefore did not see its banner advertising.
Adrian Lifely, head of litigation at Osborne Clarke's London office, said: It is not, of course, every case of hypertext linking which is unlawful - the Internet would grind to a halt. But the courts in Europe do have power to intervene where linking is extensive and prejudicial to the site involved. The impact of the Database Regulations in this respect is often overlooked and I'm sure we will see many more cases like this in future as the legal framework of the Internet matures.
www.stepstone.com
StepStone obtains net injunction - 02/2001
Against rival under new EU regulations