Is it allowed to link to Amazon?

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  luisascherrer · Member · Apr 23, 2015 at 8:44 am

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  I have a blog about music and I would like to link to the CDs on Amazon I talk about in my blog. I don’t use an affiliate links programme or so to earn money. I just want to give my readers a chance to listen to the previews.
  I’ve looked through the rules and support and still couldn’t figure out if it’s allowed or not? When the link shows a picture it’s a banner image and therefore forbidden? I’m really confused!
  I don’t want to get into any trouble so please help me.

  The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)

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  kokkieh · Staff · Apr 23, 2015 at 9:02 am

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  Hi there. Linking to Amazon for products you review is allowed. You are even allowed to use affiliate links.

  You can also include images of the CD covers, but to be safe, don’t link the image to Amazon and don’t add the image via hotlinking. Rather, upload the image to your media library and insert it into posts from there and put the link in the text, not connected to the image itself. That way it shouldn’t be interpreted as advertising.

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  kokkieh · Staff · Apr 23, 2015 at 9:03 am

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  If you’d prefer to hear this directly from a staff member, just add “modlook” to the tags and wait for their reply.

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  luisascherrer · Member · Apr 23, 2015 at 9:07 am

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  Thank you.
  So I need to remove the links I currently have as they could be seen as advertising because it includes the CD cover? But I can link to Amazon as a hyperlink? And if I add a picture of a CD cover, I need to say from what website I took it?

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  kokkieh · Staff · Apr 23, 2015 at 9:28 am

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  I see you actually use the “Buy from Amazon” image link, so yes, I think it’d be safer to remove that and use a plain image while hyperlinking from your post text. But let me tag this for staff to give you a definite answer on that.

  With any image you don’t own you should attribute your source, yes. Keep in mind that images like CD and book covers are copyrighted, but using it in the context of a review usually qualifies as fair use. What I usually do with book reviews is to name the cover designer and publisher in the image caption, and if I use a downloaded image rather than a photo of a book I own I reference the website where I got the image as well.

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  siobhyb · Member · Apr 27, 2015 at 5:09 pm

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  Hi Luisa.

  If the links are included within original content that fits in well with the content of your blog and that will benefit your readers, then that’s absolutely allowed. As @kokkieh chatted with you about, we don’t allow advertisements in the form of images, however, including the links to each service is fine. If you’d like some extra clarification on this, just let me know.