Has the NLA’s web licensing broken the internet?
Thursday, September 20, 2012 at 10:19 
There has been alarmist comment in some blogs – and even parliamentary committees – suggesting that the internet may somehow be at risk because of the 2011 High Court ruling that copyright applies to online publishing and supporting the NLA’s web licensing scheme for commercial copying of ‘newspaper’ web content!
Over at the 1709 copyright blog there has been some discussion of the effects of the Newspaper Licensing Agency’s litigation with Meltwater and the PRCA on “linking” and “browsing”.
One of the wilder claims is that the Court of Appeal’s decision on the NLA / Meltwater case risks making all browsing on the internet illegal.
Responding to a recent post on the same blog, Simon Clark, Head of Intellectual Property at Berwin Leighton Paisner LLP explains why this assertion is wrong. It is recommended reading for anyone interested in the case and the full article can be found on the BLP website.
David Pugh
Managing Director, NLA