Yes, web scraping is legal in Texas under state and federal law, provided it complies with copyright, contract, and anti-hacking statutes. Texas lacks a standalone scraping law, but federal precedents (e.g., hiQ Labs v. LinkedIn) and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) shape enforcement. Businesses must avoid scraping protected data behind paywalls or violating terms of service, as local courts may enforce contractual restrictions.
Key Regulations for Web Scraping in Texas
- Copyright Law (17 U.S.C. § 101 et seq.): Scraping copyrighted content without permission violates federal law, as affirmed by the Fifth Circuit. Aggregating proprietary data (e.g., real-time stock feeds) risks infringement unless covered by fair use or licensing.
- Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) (18 U.S.C. § 1030): Texas courts enforce the CFAA against unauthorized access to servers or circumvention of technical barriers (e.g., IP bans). Automated scraping that triggers rate limits may constitute “exceeding authorized access.”
- Texas Anti-Competition Statutes (Tex. Bus. & Com. Code § 15.05): The Texas Free Enterprise and Antitrust Act prohibits scraping for anticompetitive purposes, such as undermining paywalled competitors or disrupting market data integrity.
Local enforcement remains fragmented, but the Texas Attorney General’s 2024 Data Privacy Initiative signals heightened scrutiny of data misuse. Scrapers should audit compliance with the Texas Consumer Privacy Act (TCPA, effective 2026), which may restrict scraping personal data without consent. Always verify website terms, as Texas courts uphold contractual prohibitions on scraping (e.g., Craigslist v. Instamotor).