Should I be worried if I'm hosting other people's sites?

[james889]

I'm hosting my mom's site on my hostgator shared hosting account. She doesn't know the law very well
and thinks it's OK to copy/paste articles, use random google images, etc.

If the copyright trolls attack, they usually go after the domain name owner, right? She owns the domain.

But I just want to double-check with you guys. Is there anyway I could get in trouble because the site is hosted on my hosting account (which is under my name)?

[Robert Krausankas (BuddhaPi)]

they generally go after the domain owner, but your host can certainly pull the plug if there is infringing material being hosted.. Mom nneds to clean up her site or you need to have her get her own hosting account.

[lucia]

Also: If you host anyone elses stuff, you should definitely file a DMCA agent. That way, you are protected from suits springing from other's copyright violations provided you comply with take down notices.  With respect to your mom this would mean people would write you telling you to take down, and you would take down. Then your mom could file a response if she thought she was not violating.  (And if she did that, you would be wise to tell her that you were taking down her stuff anyway-- and tell her if she doesn't like that she can sue you!)

[Oscar Michelen]

Posting other people's articles is copyright infringement and if they contain a Getty Image you are infringing on the image as well. Mm needs to be careful or she will receive a demand letter.