Inlining is a legally and ethically questionable method of displaying a file, usually an image, from one website onto another website without permission. Inlining operates by a website owner linking onto their website the file address from another website which will transfer the file along servers to appear as though the file originated from the linking website. The trouble is because the file will appear as if it is from the website that inlined the file, not from the original website. A person can only know the source of the file if they decode the website or the owner’s name is displayed. Inlining arguably breaks copyright law in a myriad of ways because the file creator did not authorize the copyrighted materials to be redistributed by the person inlining the file. Inlining can distort the context of the original file and destroy the benefits of the creator because website viewers will not know the source of the image.
[Last updated in August of 2021 by the Wex Definitions Team]