Is it illegal to scrape a website's data?
Generally legal for public data, but carries high civil litigation risks.
Scraping publicly accessible data from a website is generally legal under U.S. law and does not violate the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). However, the legality shifts if you bypass technical barriers like CAPTCHAs, ignore 'Terms of Service' agreements, or scrape non-public copyrighted material. While recent Supreme Court rulings favor scrapers, companies frequently sue for breach of contract or trespass to chattels. Therefore, while unlikely to result in jail time, it is a high-risk activity that can lead to massive civil judgments.
RELEVANT LAWS
- 18 U.S.C. § 1030Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA)
- 17 U.S.C. § 101Copyright Act of 1976 (Fair Use limitations)
- Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)Anti-circumvention provisions
- Restatement (Second) of Torts § 217Trespass to Chattels
POTENTIAL PENALTIES
- Permanent injunctions and cease-and-desist orders
- Civil damages for breach of contract or lost revenue
- Statutory damages up to $150,000 per work for copyright infringement
- Criminal prosecution for unauthorized access to non-public servers
JURISDICTION
While U.S. federal courts have grown more permissive of public scraping, the EU's GDPR creates much stricter regulations regarding the scraping of personal data.
In the landmark case HiQ Labs v. LinkedIn, the Ninth Circuit ruled that scraping public data does not constitute 'unauthorized access' under the CFAA.
Got a different scenario? Get a custom AI verdict in seconds.
Try it free →RELATED QUESTIONS
- Is it illegal to share your Netflix password?
- Is it illegal to drive without a seatbelt?
- Is it illegal to record someone without their permission?
- Is it illegal to send someone an anonymous letter?
- Is it illegal to use someone else's photo on your website?
- Is it illegal to drive barefoot?
- Is it illegal to be a sex worker?
- Is it illegal to post someone else's nudes?
FOR EDUCATIONAL & ENTERTAINMENT USE ONLY · NOT LEGAL ADVICE