Hyperlinking to 3rd Party sites

Legal Issues in Flexible Learning - Q and A

When developing online material I was asked to obtain copyright clearance on 500 links. The task proved to be impossible because 1) most webmasters did not reply 2) Some were openly hostile arguing that there is no copyright in the link itself (we are not talking about content or the use of frames)and that to try to gain a clearance is undermining the freedom of the Internet 3)there was no way of knowing if the person who replied had any authority to give permission. Where can I get a clear statement of the legal position on copyright in links to persuade the funding bodies that this is unnecessary.
!What the lawyers say...
Unfortunately the legal position in Australia in relation to hyperlinks is unclear at this stage. However based on a review of international cases (there are no Australian legal decisions yet), we can only suggest some sensible strategies to manage this issue.
In general, the risks to organisations from linking do not involve the risk of infringing copyright in the link itself. Rather, any risk is more likely to arise from copyright infringement committed by users on the linked site, any risk that consumers would be mislead or deceived by the linking process, or if it could be argued that your website endorsed the linked site. The following may assist you to navigate these issues:
Copyright will