Linking to Online Content Becomes Copyright Infringement: Lessons from Aereo

Although many Internet users presume linking to online content is permissible, copyright owners have long complained that it constitutes copyright infringement. The Supreme Court recently resolved this issue in ABC v. Aereo, holding that pursuant to the Copyright Act’s “Transmit Clause,” an Internet transmission of a copyrighted work is a performance of it. Therefore, inasmuch as transmission occurs by inserting and clicking on a link, the link performs the copyrighted work, and may infringe. This article analyzes linking as a species of copyright infringement, and details which types of links infringe, who faces liability, and what defenses exist.