Stephen Cooper ran a website called mp3s4free. Stephen thought that he was well within his legal rights because he was just compiling a list of available mp3 files available for download on the Internet, but was not actually hosting any of the files. Earlier today, the court decided otherwise.
Australian Federal Court Justice Brian Tamberlin ruled that Cooper was guilty of copyright infringment for linking to websites that contained illegal mp3s. This is the first judgement of its kind against hyperlinking in Australia and, I am fairly sure, the rest of the world.
It isn't just Cooper that is being punished however. Tamberlin also found Comcen (Cooper's ISP), one of their employees, its parent company, and its director Liam Bal liable.
While handing down his judgement today, Tamberlin was quoted as saying:
"I am satisfied there has been infringement of copyright.
"I won't make formal orders as yet. But since there's been infringments...the respondents must pay the applicants' costs."
There will not be any jail time involved but all guilty parties will have to pay an undetermined fine. Even without the jail time this ruling has set a precedent that could be devastating for pro-fair-use activists. The record labels are going to be referring to this case in future Australian (and possibly U.S) copyright infringement cases; "Referring to the July 14, 2005 case of major record labels vs Stephen Cooper, Stephen Cooper was found guilty for linking to illegal mp3 files AND the ISP was held responsible. We think that case should be used as a basis for the judge's decision in the current hearing."
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