The European Court of Justice in Luxembourg said GeenStijl, owned by GS Media, broke copyright laws when it published links to pictures of TV personality Britt Dekker without the permission of Sanoma Oyj's Dutch unit, which runs Playboy in the Netherlands.
Thursday's ruling, which guides a Dutch court making a final decision in the dispute, says the website may fall foul of copyright rules because the links were posted for profit in the full knowledge that the photos were published online without consent.
"An eye on profit, that's something dirty, according to the European clowns," GeenStijl said in a statement on its website. "The consequence is that from now on, you always run the risk of being sued, just for placing a hyperlink."