Legal Question in Intellectual Property in California

Re: Freedom to use links on a webpage

Generally, you are free to link as you like. There are a few areas where you might run into problems:

1. Deep linking. Some companies only want you to link to their index page. Linking to a different page within the web site could cause them to lose advertising revenue because web surfers can go directly to the interesting information and bypass all the advertising on the way.

2. Frames. Sometimes people construct web sites that utilize frames in a way that suggests that other people's web sites are really part of the framing web site. If there is a likelihood of consumer confusion regarding the source of products, there could be trademark liability. If you are going to use frames, you should consult an attorney who can help to avoid liability through use of certain language on your site which can decrease your exposure.

3. Disparaging remarks next to the links. Defamation is a possibility.