Deep linking is widely used in such areas as multimedia websites and information portals, which has led to considerable disputes among the linker, the linked website and their proprietors. This issue has become a topic hotly debated among scholars, judges and people in the network industry. Existing literature focuses on the damages deep linking causes to copyright owners and whether deep linking constitutes dissemination via information network. Accordingly, it offers regulatory advice under the copyright law. This dissertation is of the view that in case the copyright owner has licensed the website to disseminate his works, the linker’s conduct of deep linking these works will not negatively affect the copyright owner’s interests of dissemination in his works.When there is no cooperative linking relationship between the linker and the licensed website, the opportunity to profit generated from the linker’s conduct of deep linking belongs to the licensed website rather than the copyright owner. This is because when the copyright owner licenses the linked website to disseminate his works, he has already realized his interests in disseminating the works via charging license fees subject to the conditions of license. The licensed website has in turn gained the opportunity to profit from the dissemination of the works under certain license conditions by paying license fees as consideration. The linker, by deep linking the works on the licensed websites, has gained the opportunity to profit which the licensed website should enjoy.In case the licensed website has established a cooperative linking relationship with third party websites without gaining permission from the copyright owner, the conduct of deep linking will not damage the copyright owner’s interests of dissemination of the licensed works either. This is because not all third parties sharing a cooperative linking relationship with the licensed website are potential licensees for the copyright owner, meaning deep linking will not result in encroachment upon the copyright owner’s licensing market. In comparison, the cooperative linking relationship between the licensed website and a third party may be deemed a promotion of the licensed works. The major risks in loss of profit facing the copyright owner stem largely from its loss of control over the scope of license in the licensing agreement at question.The conflict of interests under these circumstances lie in: first, when the linker and the licensed website do not share a cooperative linking relationship, there are conflict of interests between these two entities; second, when there is such a cooperative linking relationship between the two, there are conflict of interests among the copyright owner, the linker and the licensed website. The former situation can be remedied by application of the anti unfair competition law, while the latter can be regulated by contract law and copyright law.In conclusion, this dissertation asserts that in case the copyright owner licenses the website to disseminate his works, deep linking such works will not damage the copyright owner’s interests in dissemination of the works. The existing legal regime is capable of resolving disputes caused by deep linking. |