Is this illegal?

by 13 replies
15
Is linking to movie sites illegal/copyright infringment? There are a lot of moviesites affiliated with CPALead and basically what they're doing is pointing to moviesites...so they are not hosting movie files. It's really tempting to create one too, but is there a risk of getting in trouble?

Does anyone know where I can find more information on this?
I recall PirateBay was sued for millions and they didn't hosted content either...
#main internet marketing discussion forum #illegal
  • Why would it be copyright infringement? You're not copying any of their material. A link isn't copying their stuff.

    Also, embedding videos they might have on video sites is not going to be infringement either, as long as the videos are theirs. If they have a beef, they need to complain to the video hosting sites.
    • [1] reply
    • Because you're promoting sites that are illegal I was just wondering...
      • [1] reply
  • Katya if it gives you a bad feeling then don't do it. Go with your gut and trust your instincts.
    • [3] replies
    • You can research it but If you don't feel comfortable don't waste your time. You would end up spending more time worrying then making money.
    • While that might make you "feel good", that's not how the law works. It's very clear.

      What she's asking is this: "is using a link to point to something considered copyright infringement?"

      I'm not a lawyer, but if you can't tell the difference between the moon and your finger pointing at it, you shouldn't be in this business.

      -David
      • [1] reply
    • It's not illegal to link to anything...it's just a link. Pirate Bay...like the the name implies is a torrent site which pirates other peeps stuff and allows you to download it...completely different ball game.
  • BTW, the founders of PirateBay were sued for facilitating copyright infringement because the whole purpose of the site was to provide a way for people to post info to stolen products were others go to find them.

    It was like if you set up a site where assissins and hit-men could advertise their services. Just cause you aren't one, you were facilitating murder-for-hire.

    There was no other purpose for PirateBay's existence other than to help people exchange copyrighted products, none of whom had any legal rights to do so.

    The owners actually thought they'd get off scott-free because they weren't doing anything wrong -- namely, they were neither accepting nor distributing copyrighted materials. But this is one area where European laws are more strict than those in the US. These guys got convictions they probably would not have gotten here in America.
  • Are you referring to third party sites rather than the actual film copyright owners site? There certainly could be an issue there.
    • [1] reply
    • I'm referring to third party sites...the ones that say "watch new movies for free" or something along these lines.
  • From what I understand, it is illegal if it is your intention for the sharing or viewing of copyrighted media to be the main purpose of your business/service/website. The main purpose of a business/service/website is often determined by a third party.
  • if your not hosting the content on your server you are relieved from a lot of the liability but if your site gets big enough and draws attention there is a good chance that you would be pressured to take it down. luckily there are already a lot of big fish in this game so you wouldnt have that much to worry about

    another thing you have to take in to account is you host and how the handle complaints. if you are with someone like hostgator it takes very little before you site gets shut down. but then there are other hosts that could care less. hosts outside of the us (like your country for example) are much more lenient about copyright issues
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    Is this illegal?

    Is linking to movie sites illegal/copyright infringment? There are a lot of moviesites affiliated with CPALead and basically what they're doing is pointing to moviesites...so they are not hosting movie files. It's really tempting to create one too, but is there a risk of getting in trouble? Does anyone know where I can find more information on this?