BarkingDogs.org is run by Avi Adelman, a Dallas resident who uses his site to discuss local politics and problems. He linked to stories about a fire that appeared on the web site of Dallas Morning News, owned by Belo.
Belo has sent a “cease and desist” letter to Adelman, warning that he should not deep link from BarkingDogs to its sites “without prior written permission.” Its lawyers wrote:
"As you may know, the Belo Content (various news articles) is protected by copyright laws of the United States. In order to ensure that its rights are protected, Belo routinely monitors the use of its content and contacts users accordingly to request that they cease and desist their unauthorised use of such content.
"Accordingly, we must request that you cease and desist from any unauthorised use of the Belo Content, including without limitation, allowing users of BarkingDogs.org to deep link directly to the Belo Content or from posting, without prior written permission, any other Belo Content on BarkingDogs.org.
"Any proper links to the Belo Content should be directly hyperlinked to The Dallas Morning News homepage located at www.dallasnews.com."
The company later explained that its concerns was that deep linking avoids the homepage advertising – which, Belo explained, puts it “in a bad position with respect to its advertisers, etc.”
The issue of deep linking, and whether it constitutes copyright infringement, has long been contentious. A court in Denmark is expected to consider the same issue soon.