Legal Question in Technology Law in Arizona

Legality of a Free Ringtone and Wallpaper Site

Hi, I have been thinking about creating a site that offers free ringtones and wallpapers. The main idea around the site is that members of this site, who sign up for free, can upload ringtones and it will be 100% community based.

My question is, would this be a legal thing to do? If not, are there any changes I can make in order to make it legal? Or, is there some disclaimer I could place on the site that would make it legal?

There is a very big site that has almost 490,000 users and earns revenue from Google Adsense, and this site has been running for a very long time. The owner of the site is also a very well known Adsense guru, and they also allow free downloads for ringtones and allow users to upload. How are they able to do this legally?

I have been reading everything I could on this but I would love to get a definite answer. Thank you in advance!


Asked on 11/14/07, 11:10 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Edward Hoffman Law Offices of Edward A. Hoffman

Re: Legality of a Free Ringtone and Wallpaper Site

You could do this legally if you create the ringtones and wallpaper yourself, or if you get permission from the owner of each file to give it away on your site. You may be able to find ringtones and wallpapers that are already in the public domain; if so, you can give them away too. You may not, however, give away copyrighted files without the owner's consent.

Read more
Answered on 11/14/07, 2:07 pm


Related Questions & Answers

More Computer & Technology Law questions and answers in Arizona