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Hotlinking: loading an image onto a webpage from another website's server, without permission, thus stealing bandwidth and often violating copyright
When you make a webpage you can specify the images that will appear on the page, either as stand-alone images, or as backgrounds.
If you search the web you will find a lot of images that will be just what you want. Some of them will be copyrighted. Some will be noted as "help yourself" and for many there will be no comment made.
If you see images that you are given permission to use, please understand that the permission will not include permission to HOTLINK. If you want to use an image you find on someone else's website, and you have permission to use it, FIRST, COPY IT TO YOUR OWN SERVER. Then link to it from there. If you HOTLINK, (call it from someone else's server), and they find out about it, you may notice that they have changed the image, and you may have a pornographic picture on your site, or an angry note, or something else equally rude.
When I find people hotlinking my images I change them so that they see a message about hotlinking instead of the image they intended to show. I use the .htaccess method. If you can't use that, you can just replace the images that are stolen with the ones you would rather have show up on the thief's website. Use your own imagination.
Your website host should have instructions for you about how to set up your own .htaccess file. You need to specify all the domains that are allowed to link to your images, and the image you want all the others to see. It can be great fun to make an image for the hotlinkers to use when they think they are using your nice one.
