Hotlinking - HTML Forums

rjlstar · 11-04-2007, 04:37 PM

Questions:

Is hotlinking images and videos legal?
Let's say you hotlink to a whole NBA game that someone uploaded. Then the NBA gets angry when they view your website. Are they going to sue you or the person you hotlinked to? Or both of you?

Pegasus · 11-04-2007, 04:48 PM

Technically, no it's not legal. If you have written permission from the owner of the website, then you can hotlink to information on their page. The biggest problem with hotlinking is that you end up stealing bandwidth from the other person/site.

Peg

Geoserv · 11-11-2007, 02:20 AM

Each website should use a hotlink protection line in their .htaccess file

http://crunchbang.org/archives/2007/...-dot-htaccess/

Geoserv.

John84 · 02-29-2008, 11:21 AM

A popular trend I have noticed is websites that post Anime Episodes. I have asked some of the owners of the legal implications of their websites and they all responded with the same basic answer...

"I'm not breaking any laws because I am not hosting the files themselves."

...how valid is that?

Horus_Kol · 02-29-2008, 11:06 PM

that is actually a grey area...

if they are actually streaming the information via their site (through a hotlink), then they are culpable for providing content, whether or not they are actually hosting it...

if, on the other hand, they just have a listing of where you can go to get those episodes, then that comes down to the local laws of where their server is (in some countries this is illegal, and others it isn't).

RunnerRob · 02-17-2009, 07:16 PM

if you watch pro sports you may hear them say "this broadcast may be not be reproduced without the express written consent of MLB or NFL." they will find you and give you a takedown order. they are very aggressive about their content, as it makes them millions of $ every year. they do not want outsiders making $ from their work product.

Rob