BREIN, the Dutch version of the MPIAA has its own website to “inform” people about copyrights, and what is, and is not allowed with copyrighted materials.
I just ran across the following text on their website (translated from Dutch):
Is it allowed to put (hyper-)links to copyright protected materials on my website?
No. Putting a hyperlink is a form of publication, and generally is it not allowed…
Now I’m not sure if there are actually working any lawyers at Brein, or at least someone who has looked into this stuff before putting it on their website. It namely happens to be that nearly every text on the internet is protected by copyright. This would render almost every link to content that has been published by third-parties illegal under Dutch law, if only Brein was right (which they are not!).
The text I just quoted is subject to copyright as well because the author is not dead (for over 70 years), and quite a bit of creativity (given the high level amount of fiction) was needed to write that text.
This is a LINK to that copyrighted text. Please note I did not ask any permission to put that link here.
Brein, please, do us all a favor and stop with whatever it is you do. It has no effects, but secondly, you’re spreading FUD.