Is linking to a picture Copyright Infringement?

24 replies
A visitor to my site, a news aggregator, can see the original images from the news sites, never copied to my site, where I have just links to images.

My question is:

Is linking to a picture Copyright Infringement?

#copyright #infringement #linking #picture
  • Profile picture of the author SuzanneH
    If you're actually showing the image from the other site -- that is, hotlinking the image from the other website -- that's bandwidth theft at the very least.

    Suzanne
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  • Profile picture of the author Tim Franklin
    First, This is not legal advice.
    ====================

    Basically If I understand your question correctly, your displaying images, at your website, which belong to another company or website yes?

    A lot depends on what your doing and if the website is ok with doing this.

    An example of this might be if a company has an affiliate program and provides a banner, the banner is hosted at the companies website, they allow you to do that because they benefit from the exposure of your website selling their product.

    (usually they will indicate if this is ok or if it is not ok)

    If your using images, from a website, by linking (AKA, hot linking)

    Not only is this considered bad hat, but in the very near future it might even become a criminal event, should CISAP pass, CISPA, Approved by House, Poses Threat to Internet Freedom · FTC Beat

    Here is the basic scenario, if you are hot linking images from another website and your profiting from that action, (in some cases you do not have to even profit)

    But if you profit that is one thing, but if you do not profit, your still taking something without permission and that something is bandwidth.

    Bandwidth cost money, so when your taking something like an image, and your showing that image on your website with the intent to profit then yes you might find yourself in some trouble.

    This is why there are so many issues that are likely to start becoming a serious problem, right now what your talking about is happening all over the Internet and for the most part people are getting away with it, but that is about to change.

    This is one reason why auto blogs and any business model that borrows content is on the edge of the abyss.
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  • Profile picture of the author Lloyd Buchinski
    Originally Posted by latestnewsheadline View Post

    never copied to my site, where I have just links to images.

    My question is:

    Is linking to a picture Copyright Infringement?
    If you don't have the image on your site, that seems completely fair to me. It isn't copyright infringement by anything I understand, and mostly the original sites should be glad to have the links back to their pages.

    That isn't the usual sort of attitude of people asking about images. Not many of them have been that careful or considerate.

    That might explain why you got the answers you did so far in this topic, or maybe I'm misunderstanding something.

    best wishes, nice to see the attitude
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    • Profile picture of the author latestnewsheadline
      Banned
      Originally Posted by Lloyd Buchinski View Post

      If you don't have the image on your site, that seems completely fair to me. It isn't copyright infringement by anything I understand, and mostly the original sites should be glad to have the links back to their pages.
      I have a link back to the site where the image is located.

      Thank you all for opinions, but the answer remains unclear for me.
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  • Profile picture of the author UptonGoodwin
    Okay, I'm not 100% sure what you are doing with the images. If you are posting a LINK to the page the image is on, then you are okay, although you'll be driving traffic AWAY from your website in the process.

    If you are using the Image URL from the other website and posting the image on YOUR website, then you are stealing bandwith along with violating copyrights.

    Of course I'm not a lawyer I just pretend to be one on internet forums!
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    • Profile picture of the author latestnewsheadline
      Banned
      Originally Posted by UptonGoodwin View Post

      Okay, I'm not 100% sure what you are doing with the images. If you are posting a LINK to the page the image is on, then you are okay, although you'll be driving traffic AWAY from your website in the process.

      If you are using the Image URL from the other website and posting the image on YOUR website, then you are stealing bandwith along with violating copyrights.

      Of course I'm not a lawyer I just pretend to be one on internet forums!
      I use img url, followes by text - a news headline related to image - and the site name and the link to news site where the image is located.

      What do you think?
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      • Profile picture of the author onSubie
        Originally Posted by latestnewsheadline View Post

        I use img url, followes by text - a news headline related to image - and the site name and the link to news site where the image is located.

        What do you think?
        That's what facebook does when you post a link to your wall.

        Clear intellectual property theft and bandwidth theft according to the posters here.

        Mahlon
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  • Profile picture of the author E. Brian Rose
    It is unclear whether you mean providing a link like this..

    Code:
    <a href="hxxp://somesite.com/somepic.jpg">click to see pic</a>
    or you mean...

    Code:
    <img src="hxxp://somesite.com/somepic.jpg>
    Some will argue that one is ok and not the other, while others will argue that neither is ok.

    When you have legal questions, it is always best to ask a legal pro.
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    • Profile picture of the author latestnewsheadline
      Banned
      Originally Posted by E. Brian Rose View Post

      It is unclear whether you mean providing a link like this..

      Code:
      <a href="hxxp://somesite.com/somepic.jpg">click to see pic</a>
      or you mean...

      Code:
      <img src="hxxp://somesite.com/somepic.jpg>
      Some will argue that one is ok and not the other, while others will argue that neither is ok.

      When you have legal questions, it is always best to ask a legal pro.
      My site is a news aggregator and I have also the link of news site, from where the image is. Someting like this:

      <img src="hxxp://somesite.com/somepic.jpg"> text - a news headline from news site, related to image and at the end, the link of the news site <a href=..hxxp..news site..>news site...
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    • Profile picture of the author latestnewsheadline
      Banned
      Originally Posted by E. Brian Rose View Post

      It is unclear whether you mean providing a link like this..

      Code:
      <a href="hxxp://somesite.com/somepic.jpg">click to see pic</a>
      or you mean...

      Code:
      <img src="hxxp://somesite.com/somepic.jpg>
      Some will argue that one is ok and not the other, while others will argue that neither is ok.

      When you have legal questions, it is always best to ask a legal pro.
      My site is a news aggregator and I have also the link of news site, from where the image is. Something like this:

      <img src="hxxp://somesite.com/somepic.jpg"> text - a news headline from news site, related to image and at the end, the link of the news site <a href=..hxxp..news site..>news site...
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      • Profile picture of the author Lloyd Buchinski
        Originally Posted by latestnewsheadline View Post

        My site is a news aggregator and I have also the link of news site, from where the image is. Something like this:

        <img src="hxxp://somesite.com/somepic.jpg"> text - a news headline from news site, related to image and at the end, the link of the news site <a href=..hxxp..news site..>news site...
        This is different from what I understood your first post to say. If you have the image on your site without specific permission, then it is copyright infringement. As soon as they notice, or you get reported, you are in deep trouble.

        They can send your host a dmca notice, and have your site offline very quickly.

        They can also sue. Here is the story of a site that paid over $4000 for using a $10 image without permission.

        Legal Lesson Learned: Copywriter Pays $4,000 for $10 Photo | Webcopyplus Web Copywriter Blog

        Forget about Google search. Search results are not displaying the images as if they are on their site.
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        • Profile picture of the author latestnewsheadline
          Banned
          Originally Posted by Lloyd Buchinski View Post

          This is different from what I understood your first post to say. If you have the image on your site without specific permission, then it is copyright infringement. As soon as they notice, or you get reported, you are in deep trouble.

          They can send your host a dmca notice, and have your site offline very quickly.

          They can also sue. Here is the story of a site that paid over $4000 for using a $10 image without permission.

          Legal Lesson Learned: Copywriter Pays $4,000 for $10 Photo | Webcopyplus Web Copywriter Blog

          Forget about Google search. Search results are not displaying the images as if they are on their site.
          Thank you for clarifying this.
          I read the article and they took a copy of picture.
          I used just a link.
          In this code:
          <img src="hxxp://somesite.com/somepic.jpg"> somesite.com is the owner of image, not my site.
          Do you think is the same thing? If the answer is yes, I will take out the images links.
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          • Profile picture of the author Lloyd Buchinski
            Originally Posted by latestnewsheadline View Post

            In this code:
            <img src="hxxp://somesite.com/somepic.jpg"> somesite.com is the owner of image, not my site.
            Do you think is the same thing? If the answer is yes, I will take out the images links.
            It's worse than just stealing the images. This is called hot linking, and people can get very irate about it. The image is still on the original site, but you are using their bandwidth and server resources to serve it up on your site.

            There have been a few topics here when a site owner noticed someone hot linking. The most common response has been to substitute a gross or obscene photo, with text like 'this site is stealing my images.'

            The owner gives the new image the same name as the old one, and uses a different name and link for the old image if he wants to keep it on his site.

            Sometimes the site doing the hot linking doesn't notice the different image and it is displayed to site visitors for some time.

            You are using bandwidth and server resources that someone else is paying for, so it might be possible to charge you with theft. I'm not interested in hot linking, so I've never researched if this actually happens.

            But if I did want to do it, I would research that very carefully. (Not that I ever will.)
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    • Profile picture of the author Karen Blundell
      if you are just linking to an image like so:
      <a href="someotherdomain.com/images/someimage.jpg">click here to see the image</a>

      but if you're hotlinking like so on your website:

      <img src="http://somedomain.com/images/someimage.jpg" />

      that that is considered bandwidth theft and can get you in a whole heap of trouble.

      By the way, if you have hosting with CPanel it's very very easy to set up hotlink protection on your site.
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    • Profile picture of the author MissTerraK
      Perhaps you should have asked this question of a lawyer before you posted them all.

      From what I see, you have images from other news outlets such as CNN, then you are posting an extremely brief news snippet with a read more link to go to CNN.

      Personally, I don't think this is wise at all and if you haven't asked permission to use that photograph/image, you could be in a lot of hot water and maybe even a lawsuit to boot.

      Photographers don't have a tendency to allow use of their photographs without paying for them and if they have sold exclusive rights to said photograph to one of the sights you lifted them from, they aren't going to like it either.

      I recommend you seriously reconsider what you you're doing or better yet, consult with an attorney on the subject.

      Good luck!

      Terra
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  • Profile picture of the author valkerie
    This is not a legal answer, but here is something for you to think about. When I find someone hotlinking an image from my site, I change the name of the image (for my site) and load up another one with the old name.

    The image that now appears on your site is the original image with a transparent white overlay so that the text that's now on top shows up better. The text says:

    This image was stolen from XSite.com.

    Depending on how busy my schedule is that day, I may notify your hosting company and domain registrar to take a look at the page because there are images that violate copyright laws showing up. If I'm feeling really vindictive and these are original images and not stock, I'll also put in a DMCA with Google.

    Just saying.
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    • Profile picture of the author latestnewsheadline
      Banned
      Originally Posted by valkerie View Post

      This is not a legal answer, but here is something for you to think about. When I find someone hotlinking an image from my site, I change the name of the image (for my site) and load up another one with the old name.

      The image that now appears on your site is the original image with a transparent white overlay so that the text that's now on top shows up better. The text says:

      This image was stolen from XSite.com.

      Depending on how busy my schedule is that day, I may notify your hosting company and domain registrar to take a look at the page because there are images that violate copyright laws showing up. If I'm feeling really vindictive and these are original images and not stock, I'll also put in a DMCA with Google.

      Just saying.
      Thank you for answer.
      Please tell me, in this case, why google can show on his search images page, others images, from many other sites without their approval, and my site can't, even if I have a link to these sites?

      I've asked this question because here, I wanted to find the legal anwser not menaces, and I don't want to have this kind of issues on my site.
      Many people and different opinions but just a legal answer. What is this legal answer? Can you tell me please?
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      • Profile picture of the author Karen Blundell
        Originally Posted by latestnewsheadline View Post

        Thank you for answer.
        Please tell me, in this case, why google can show on his search images page, others images, from many other sites without their approval, and my site can't, even if I have a link to these sites?

        I've asked this question because here, I wanted to find the legal anwser not menaces, and I don't want to have this kind of issues on my site.
        Many people and different opinions but just a legal answer. What is this legal answer? Can you tell me please?
        there is a way to block Google's bot or any other bot from displaying your images on their image directory:

        put all your images in a directory called "images" or name it whatever you want.
        then create a robots.txt file in Notepad or any other text editor and put this in it:

        User-agent: *
        Disallow: /images/

        upload the robot.txt and put it in your server's root directory, usually called public_html or www on other servers.

        there you go, your images will not appear in any image directory unless someone steals them.
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      • Profile picture of the author valkerie
        Originally Posted by latestnewsheadline View Post

        Thank you for answer.
        Please tell me, in this case, why google can show on his search images page, others images, from many other sites without their approval, and my site can't, even if I have a link to these sites?

        I've asked this question because here, I wanted to find the legal anwser not menaces, and I don't want to have this kind of issues on my site.
        Many people and different opinions but just a legal answer. What is this legal answer? Can you tell me please?
        1. Google doesn't hotlink and their images link back to my site and gives me more traffic. Plus, it's Google.

        2. Really sorry if you thought I was menacing. I wasn't. I was trying to tell you what I've done to people who've hotlinked my images. Hotlinking uses up bandwidth that I pay for, and as I have a lot of original art, people who hotlink are violating copyrights. In brief, they are stealing from me.

        Lloyd Buchinski is right, people get very upset about hotlinking and if you hotlink to the wrong webmaster/mistress, on the wrong day - their reaction can cause you huge headaches.

        Try buying stock photos or get an account with sxc.hu - they have a thousands of photos available for download. (But make sure you read the license of the photo before you use it.)
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  • Profile picture of the author Rich Struck
    When I catch a hotlinker, I switch out the image for the filthiest, most obscene photo I can find. I can't tell you how many eBay auctions I ruined for people (back in the old days) and how many websites I've "enhanced" that way. Some people have even had the nerve to email me and demand that I change the pictures back.
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  • Profile picture of the author CrossHash
    just an expansion on the thought ... what about news feeds that have a small thumbnail in the rss feed .. so long as you abide by their terms of service .. this would be acceptable?

    Would this also mean that websites like pinterest, tumblr, stumbleupon etc are in violation as well?
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  • Profile picture of the author TLH Media Mktg
    Google can legally serve up copyrighted images as thumbnails in their search engine under the copyright fair use provision - according to many court rulings on the matter.

    Thank goodness for fair use - can you imagine what the copyright police would do without fair use - as indicated in some of the posts here. Courts in some lands have even ruled that if you don't want your images found and used online, then don't allow them to be found on the internet. Simple.

    Pinterest, in their terms of use, has put the copyright responsibility on the user. The user has to ensure that what they are pinning does not violate any copyright laws.
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    • Profile picture of the author valmillercorl
      Originally Posted by Teri Harris View Post

      Google can legally serve up copyrighted images as thumbnails in their search engine under the copyright fair use provision - according to many court rulings on the matter.

      Thank goodness for fair use - can you imagine what the copyright police would do without fair use - as indicated in some of the posts here. Courts in some lands have even ruled that if you don't want your images found and used online, then don't allow them to be found on the internet. Simple.

      Pinterest, in their terms of use, has put the copyright responsibility on the user. The user has to ensure that what they are pinning does not violate any copyright laws.
      Re: Pinterest, wouldn't the DMCA law apply here therefore Pinterest would have to remove the infringing photo? Or does that only apply to written work?

      Val
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  • Profile picture of the author latestnewsheadline
    Banned
    Talking about fair use of images, I took the definition from wikipedia.

    "Fair use is a limitation and exception to the exclusive right granted by copyright law to the author of a creative work. In United States copyright law, fair use is a doctrine that permits limited use of copyrighted material without acquiring permission from the rights holders. Examples of fair use include commentary, criticism, news reporting, research, teaching, library archiving and scholarship. It provides for the legal, unlicensed citation or incorporation of copyrighted material in another author's work under a four-factor balancing test."

    If the wikipedia is right, news aggregators are included here, at news reporting.
    What do you think?
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