하이퍼링크와 저작권 침해 문제의 재고찰 : ‘이용에 제공하는 것’의 해석론을 중심으로

Hyperlink(hereafter ‘link’) is the core technology which enables to connect and share information on the Internet. Despite the prolonged and controversial dispute, the legal issue regarding link and copyright infringement has not dissolved yet. Whereas both the supreme court of South Korea and the U. S. federal appeal court ruled that the action of link(hereafter ‘linking’) should not constitute direct copyright infringement, the European Court of Justice recently decided on the case of GS Media BV v. Sanoma Media Netherlands BV(hereafter ‘GS Media’) that linking can constitute direct copyright infringement, especially infringement of ‘the right of communication to the public’. This article discusses the legal problem regarding link and copyright infringement. Firstly this article introduces the cases and theories regarding link and copyright infringement, including both domestic and foreign perspective. After that this article argues that based on the interpretation of the term ‘making available to the public’ stipulated in the present copyright law, linking should not be regarded as direct copyright infringement, and in result, GS Media should not be applied as a precedence in our copyright legal system. Finally this article suggests the attainable and practical legal solutions for regulating linking.