Ernst Poulsen, who writes for this weblog periodically, has been busy lately in his role as chairman of the Danish Online News Association fighting another "
deep linking" case. (No, that issue hasn't gone away yet.) This one involves the newspaper
Politiken, which a month ago began insisting that weblogger
Thomas Dyhr refrain from linking directly to
Politiken articles. When Dyhr included (deep) links to newspaper articles in a 900-word article on his blog -- about an Iraq hearing in the Danish parliament, which he attended -- he received an e-mail from a
Politiken attorney telling him to refrain from linking to articles on the newspaper's website, and saying that he must ask for permission to link to anything off the home page of
Politiken.dk. Poulsen points out that almost all Danish newspapers carry a legal statement saying that one may link to the "front page," but that systematic deep linking is illegal and will be met with claims for financial compensation.
DONA successfully argued that deep links to newspaper websites "are legal and necessary in a democratic society in which it should always be possible to make references (directly) to arguments and information on other public web sites -- as long as the purpose of these links is in context and in proportion," says Poulsen.
Politiken did give in, and Dyhr is now free to link to its articles. Adds Poulsen, "Newspaper editors ought to remember that their own journalists need deep links in order to provide readers with context and even basic democratic tools."
