Inline linking
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In HTML, inline linking is the placing of a linked object, often an image, from one site in a page belonging to a second site. The second site is said to have an inline link to the one where the object is located. It's used for such activities as linking images from personal home page storage into the online diary of the person controlling the personal home page.
This has sometimes been controversial because it is possible that the site where the object is stored and from which it is retrieved will not like the new placement or will consider it to be bandwidth theft.
Inline linking of images raises many ethical concerns. It may create legal problems, as well. In 2003 the legal status of inline linking had not been completely resolved and cases such as the US Kelly v. Arriba Soft Corporation were still resolving aspects of fair use and copyright infringement. In principle, a copyright infringement may occur when a browser combines material from several web sites into a single page image, and a copyright holder has not given permission for this kind of derived work. However if the website designer who made use of inline linking was to be targeted in legal action, a doctrine such as contributory copyright infringement would seem to be necessary, since they do not copy any material themselves from the other website, but just provide a link to it.