Website with P2P download links found legal by Spanish court

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar)

The case against Sharemula.com, a website publishing P2P download links
through which users can acquire movies, music and software, has been
recently dismissed by a Spanish magistrate.

The case was opened in October 2006, when the Brigade of Technological
Investigations retained 15 people responsible with Sharemula.com, asking the
closing down of the site for alleged copyright infringement. At that time,
the Spanish media made a big fuss of the case, the 15 retained people having
been considered as belonging to a large international clandestine pirating
network. The case was considered a big success by Federación Antipiratería
in Spain (Anti-pirating Federation).

A year later, a Madrid court decided that the site and its administrators
have not infringed any law as the links to P2P downloads have no commercial
purposes. Furthermore, the site included no illegal content but only links
to downloads. The defence of Sharemula was based on three previous similar
rulings.

The defence attorneys consider they have found a Judge that rigorously
applied the law and dismissed the accusations that were based on sheer
ignorance. They believe the prosecution, including SGAE (General Society of
Authors and Editors), EGEDA (Audio-Visual Producers’ Rights Management
Association) and large companies such as Microsoft, The Walt Disney Company
Iberia, Twentieth Century Fox Home etc. will appeal the decision but hope
that the appelate Court will back up the present decision.

Sharemula.com: the case against a linking web was decided dismissed (only in
Spanish, 17.10.2007)
http://www.derecho-internet.org/node/417

Spanish court decides linking to P2P downloads is legal (19.10.2007)
http://www.afterdawn.com/news/archive/11510.cfm

A legal sentence casts doubts on the illegality of P2P downloads (only in
Spanish, 18.10.2007)
http://www.elpais.com/articulo/internet/sentencia/judicial/siembra/nuevas/dudas/ilegalidad/descargas/P2P/elpeputec/20071018elpepunet_7/Tes