Hi I have a quick question regarding anchor texts and trademarks. I am an affiliate for a company - lets say their software is called "xyz" and its a trademarked term in the USA. I live in Africa. I build a website with a completely generic domain name - and advertise the product on the homepage with download links. I also build backlinks to my affiliate site with the software name "xyz" to rank high for that term so I can make sales for this product (a portion of the sale also goes to the company). Is it okay to do this - build backlinks back to my site with the products name if I am promoting it?
Great question! Trademarks and copyrights are per country, and therefore depend on the legislation of a country. For example if you go to Vanuatu, there are no copyright laws, which means that you can sell all kinds of fake brands there and not get in trouble. So check the copyright laws of your country. If brands and trademarks are protected under your country's legislation, then it doesn't matter in which country the business operates, they are protected. For example "Chevrolet" is an American company, however Australian copyright law protects their trademark meaning that an Australian couldn't sell "Chevrolet" products, as they would be infringing on copyright. Copyright law applies to backlinking, as well as writing text on a website, or showing images on a website. Hope that helps.