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The decision in Hebrew University v. Schocken is considered the leading authority on Contributory Liability in the context of copyright law. In this case, the Supreme Court introduced Contributory Liability doctrine into copyright law. This case involved copying of textbooks. The Israeli Labour Party subsidized a student club called “Teh Ofek” (Horizon Cell) at the Mt. Scopus Campus of Hebrew University. As an incentive to get students involved, they provided cheap versions of a course textbook entitled “Traditional Japan,” the publisher sued the student club, the Labour Party and the University. The Supreme Court has recognized that in certain specific circumstances courts can use the doctrine of Contributory Liability from Tort law to assess whether the action of an intermediary is infringement of copyright. The...

Stipulation of the Tort Ordinance and common law tort law could be made use in the context of intermediary liability with respect to copyright issues because Section 52 of the Copyright Act states that “Infringement of copyright … is a civil wrong and the provisions of the Ordinance on Torts (New Version) shall apply mutatis mutandis subject to the provisions of this Act”. Section 12 of the Tort Ordinance states that “for the purposes of this Ordinance, any person who joins or aids in, authorises, counsels, commands, procures or ratifies any act done or to be done, or any omission made or to be made, by any other person will be liable for such act or omission.” This broad definition could be used to establish intermediary liability in the context of copyright infringement. In fact, reference use of intermediary...