On Mon, Jun 25, 2012 at 11:35 AM, Gordon Joly &lt;gordon.joly(a)pobox.com&gt; wrote: FWIW, that's the point of view Wikipedia itself takes. It expressly forbods linking to copyright violations, and cites a legal precedent as its reasoning. The relevant policy paragraph is Wikipedia:LINKVIO<http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:LI… – "... if you know or reasonably suspect that an external Web site is carrying a work in violation of the creator's copyright, do not link to that copy of the work. An example would be linking to a site hosting the lyrics of many popular songs without permission from their copyright holders. Knowingly and intentionally directing others to a site that violates copyright has been considered a form of contributory infringement<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contributory_copyright_infring… in the United States (*Intellectual Reserve v. Utah Lighthouse Ministry<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_Reserve_v._Utah_Light… * [1] <http://www.law.uh.edu/faculty/cjoyce/copyright/release10/IntRes.html>). Linking to a page that illegally distributes someone else's work sheds a bad light on Wikipedia and its editors." The point is repeated in WP:ELNEVER: "For policy <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:LOP> or technical reasons, editors are restricted from linking to the following, *without exception*: 1. Material that violates the copyrights of others per contributors' rights and obligations<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Copyrights#Linking_to… should not be linked. Linking to websites that display copyrighted works is acceptable as long as the website has licensed the work, or uses the work in a way compliant with fair use. Knowingly directing others to material that violates copyright may be considered contributory copyright infringement<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contributory_copyright_infring…nt>. If there is reason to believe that a website has a copy of a work in violation of its copyright, do not link to it. Linking to a page that illegally distributes someone else's work casts a bad light on Wikipedia and its editors. *This is particularly relevant when linking to sites such as Scribd <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scribd> or YouTube<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YouTube>be>, where due care should be taken to avoid linking to material that violates copyright.* * * Not sure how that squares with Jimbo's First Amendment argument.