Canadian judge rules linking is not defamation

The case has been greeted by some as a landmark ruling. It centred on a defamation lawsuit launched by a former Green Party official Wayne Crookes against p2pnet and several other websites. Crookes alleged that these sites were guilty of defamation because they carried links to articles he said were defamatory.

However B.C. Supreme Court judge Stephen Kelleher decided that linking by itself is not sufficient to make a case for defamation. In his ruling (PDF), he likened linking to a footnote:

A hyperlink is like a footnote or a reference to a website in printed material such as a newsletter. The purpose of a hyperlink is to direct the reader to additional material from a different source. The only difference is the ease with which a hyperlink allows the reader, with a simple click of the mouse, to instantly access the additional material.