LICRA et UEJF v. Yahoo! Inc.
Tribunal de Grande Instance de Paris
(May 22, 2000)
French law prohibits displaying Nazi paraphernalia for sale. Yahoo! Inc. (defendant) allowed visitors to Yahoo.com to view and bid on Nazi-related objects through an auction service and links to other sites; although Yahoo France's site, Yahoo.fr, did not directly display those illegal images, French users could reach them by following a link from Yahoo.fr to Yahoo.com. Two French organizations opposing the trivialization of Nazism, LICRA and UEJF (plaintiffs), sued Yahoo and Yahoo France (defendants) in French court seeking damages and specific performance.
Whether an American-based Internet company that makes available content that violates French law is subject to such law where French users can access the unlawful content.