Is it legal to display someone else's site in an iFrame

..... together with your own adverts?

[deano6410]

I noticed that <a website> gives a brief description of an article and then links to the article in a FRAME with <the websites own> adverts and icons at the top of the page.

Is this legal? I presumed sites had to get permission to put your site in a frame.

[edited by: trillianjedi at 1:32 pm (utc) on April 3, 2006]
[edit reason] Removing specifics [/edit]

[Pfui]

As a visitor, I'm not sure how you'd be able to tell if permission had been granted. But generally speaking, is 'secretly' framing another site for any purpose copyright-infringing? Arguably yes. Unethical, too.

And if it's your article, add frame-busting code to your page(s) and/or complain to the framing site.

[shanliang]

i think it's illegal but i think it's not a big problem if the iframe can not make any profit.

[Pfui]

Legal terms and such can be really confusing so just to clarify --

"Illegal" typically has to do with Criminal Law, with consequences like jail and such. Framing another site without permission typically has to do with Civil Law, specifically copyrights, and possibly trademarks (those two areas, plus patents, are the trio known as "Intellectual Property").

Confused yet?:) Sorry.

Suffice it to say that guessing at or supposing about Things Legal can be risky because qualified legal opinions are based on specific facts and applicable laws.

For example, in copyright law, whether or not there's any commercial intent/benefit is just one of a number of legal puzzle pieces to consider because copyright infringement can occur whether or not the unauthorized framing is commercially oriented.

Hooboy. Not any clearer?

Okay, here's the deal:

If the original poster, or anyone, ever wants or needs a reliable legal opinion, they should consult a lawyer, not a message board.

(Oh, and using someone else's stuff without permission, for any reason, is typically a bad idea:)