EFF enters image-linking debate

The Electronic Frontier Foundation hopes a federal appeals court will reverse its decision to prevent Web sites from posting in-line links to digital images. The civil liberties group has filed a friend-of-the court brief on behalf of Ditto.com, formerly Arriba Soft, which was sued by a photographer who claimed the site's links to his photos were illegal.

A panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals partly agreed, allowing postings of thumbnail sketches but not in-line links. Such links open a window to display an image from another site but make it look as if it is part of the current Web page. The EFF asked the 9th Circuit to reconsider that decision, saying it would extend copyright law to all linking on the Internet, a prospect EFF attorney Fred von Lohmann called "a nightmare."