Jonathan Witney Garriock Wills (born 17 June 1947, in Oxford), is a Scottish journalist, author and former editor of '' The Shetland Times'' newspaper. In 1996, Wills's company was sued by the newspaper for deep linking.

Career

Wills is chiefly famous for his involvement in a notable

lawsuit - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...

in 1996 brought against him as

publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

of ''

The Shetland News The Shetland News is a news website serving the islands of Shetland, Scotland. Previously, ''The Shetland News'' was a weekly newspaper published between 1885 and 1963. The website, published by an unrelated company (Zetnews Limited), was launc ...

'' website. The

plaintiff A plaintiff ( Π in legal shorthand) is the party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an ''action'') before a court. By doing so, the plaintiff seeks a legal remedy. If this search is successful, the court will issue judgment in favor of the p ...

in the case, '' The Shetland Times'', accused Wills' company, Zetnews Ltd., of infringing their copyright by using

hyperlink In computing, a hyperlink, or simply a link, is a digital reference to data that the user can follow or be guided by clicking or tapping. A hyperlink points to a whole document or to a specific element within a document. Hypertext is text wit ...

s which bypassed their main webpage. Using so-called " deep linking", Wills bypassed the framework that the ''Times'' used to publish news articles on its website, specifically the main page and the interspersed

advertisement Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

s. The case was settled out of court with ''The Shetland News'' agreeing to acknowledge any ''Shetland Times'' story which appeared on its website. Wills was also the first student

Rector of the University of Edinburgh The Lord Rector of The University of Edinburgh is elected every three years by the students and staff at The University of Edinburgh. Seldom referred to as ''Lord Rector'', the incumbent is more commonly known just as the ''Rector''. Role Th ...

, a position he achieved in 1971.

Books by Jonathan Wills

*''Old Rock – Shetland in pictures'' *''A Place in the Sun: Shetland and Oil'', Mainstream, 1991 *''Innocent Passage: The Wreck of the Tanker Braer'', Mainstream Publishing, 1993 *''The Travels of Magnus Pole'', Chatto & Windus / Canongate Publishing, 1984 *''Wilma Widdershins and the Muckle Tree: A Shetland Story'', Bressabooks, 1991 *''The Lands of Garth: A short history of Calback Ness'', 1978

References

Living people Scottish journalists Shetland writers Scottish children's writers Rectors of the University of Edinburgh 1947 births {{UK-journalist-stub