There seems to be a lot of confusion about what is legal to distribute on your web site and what is illegal. It is really simple to answer this question because each of us knows if we created something ourselves. If you created something of your own work then you are the copyright owner of that item. If you downloaded it or ripped it from another source then it is not yours to distribute. Anytime you are distributing the work product of another person without their permission you are in violation of the copyright laws. Even, scanning or downloading an image is illegal if you distribute it without the owner's permission.

The copyright laws were put into place to protect the work product of individuals and companies. The law provides for penalties up to $250,000 plus 5 years in jail per incident. It does not matter if the work product that is violated is a scanned or downloaded image from another source or the ripping of music from a music cd.

As a web hosting company we are responsible for making sure that our service is not used to violate the law. We have many processes in place to protect both you and us. From time to time you may get a mail note requesting that you review the files that you have online. If you receive such a note it is most likely that your site has triggered some flag in a system bringing files to our attention. We do our best to have you review the files prior to us reviewing them. If we find illegal material in your web space we are required by law to take your site offline. If your site has been taken offline you can always review the domain status in the Account Administration System to find the reason that is has been taken offline. To get a site back online all you need to do is review the files in your web space, remove any questionable files and send a mail note to support@activewebhosting.com requesting the web space to be reviewed and the site brought back online.

The safest way to not get caught with copyrighted file violations is to never distribute the work product of another person. Make sure that everything you distribute from your site is your own work product and does not violate any other person's copyrights or trademarks.

Here are a few links for more information on copyright laws: