In general, linking is probably the safest way to use content on websites.

Because the World Wide Web exists due to hyperlinking, using links has not been challenged in court and is therefore not considered in violation of copyright law.

A website might state in their Terms of Use or Legal page that linking is prohibited or that there are conditions related to linking to their site.

For example, you might need written permission from the copyright holder to link to the site.

Or, the organization might prohibit you from linking to specific pages and instead wants you to link to the home page only.

In the example below, the organization has a policy specifically about linking in which you are required to to ask for permission to link to any page other than the home page.

If we want to use any content from this website that is not available on the home page, we would need to email to ask for permission to do so.

In the screenshot below, there is another example of a strict linking policy that prevents disguising the URL (which we would do in the classroom) and bypassing the homepage of the website.

If we wanted to link to the content on this site, we would need to email and ask for permission.

It's better not to link directly to the PDF for a number of reasons.

• First, the PDF goes directly to the server and these links will most likely not redirect if the website domain is changed for any reason.
• Second, the publishers or creators want to make sure people know who published the document, and this may not always be clear in the document itself.

Most websites will create HTML webpages to showcase a report or document. Instead of linking directly to the PDF, try to find the webpage dedicated to that document.

There are a number of ways to do this.

• If you Google the name of the report, is that a result that goes to the website and not directly to the PDF?
• Some websites also have a search box that will search the contents of the website. If you type in the document's name in that search box, does the webpage come up?

However, sometimes you may have to link directly to the PDF. In this case, the best thing to check for is if the document matches the same name and logo as the website before linking to the PDF. 

Organizations will create web pages. like the one shown below, to showcase their publications.

These web pages will usually have either a link or a button to download the publication.

Always click on the link or button to make sure that the document does freely download and that you do not get a registration form or membership form.

Again, it's better to link to these webpages because the chances of the links redirecting are greater and the logo for the organization is also very prominent.