So, without revealing anything about anything, I’m subscribed to this “industry” email newsletter. Today, I get one that goes something like this:
Some guy asks: There’s a website with free (FREE!) electronic texts for download; can I link to them directly?
To Which somebody from something called the copyright group replies: Oh, no! You mustn’t link to those things! You know the hullabulloo that downloaded music causes, you mustn’t mustn’t mustn’t LINK to something that you may get for free. (!?!?!?)
This kind of thing makes me want to scream… IF YOU (the owner of a piece of writing, whathaveyou) PUT SOMETHING ON THE INTERNET, YOU ARE AGREEING THAT OTHER PEOPLE MAY DOWNLOAD IT; LINK TO IT, WHATEVER!
Whoever wrote that response, whatever copyright industry person it is, has absolutely no clue what the internet even means, apparently.