Legal Question in Entertainment Law in Minnesota

If a site(we can call it site A for reference purposes) was Designed to discover videos and movies, and add the web address it found them to a database, just so users of that site could click the links to go directly to the video on the website that Site A found them on, and a lot of the videos happen to be bootleg copies of movies. Is this service committing a crime?
Site A itself does not host the bootlegs and does not even allow them to be played on Site A through any means, but Site A does link to the site that it found the videos at, is it committing a crime?
If this is a crime, wouldn't larger sites like Google and Yahoo also be committing a crime?
Also (sorry for all the questions but) if the site put in the disclaimer that they are not responsible for the content that is located on the sites that are linked to by the service, does that help Site A in any way?
Thank you ahead of Time LawGuru Staff I'm sure this question is probably a unique one for you.

Asked on 8/28/09, 1:47 am

David Anderson Anderson Business Law LLC

0 users found helpful

0 attorneys agreed

The following act can get you into trouble:

"add the web address it found them to a database".

You are now directing viewers to bootleg video and are therefore aiding and abetting.

You may be able to disclaim liability to viewers, but you cannot disclaim your criminal acts.

I would need to review your model thoroughly to give you a final opinion, but it appears you are on thin ice.

Answered on 9/02/09, 7:10 am

Keywords

Match Any Match All

Country

State

Area of Law