Copyright violation is akin to stealing money. Photo: Anna Cervova, publicdomainpictures.net, Public Domain Image
Over the past few years, I’ve encountered multiple instances of others republishing my work. Sometimes foreign companies republished SEO-friendly content overseas to avoid legal trouble. Most of the time, the person infringing on my copyright or that of the company I represent just did not understand the copyright rules. Here are some tips for bloggers looking to use content seen elsewhere:
- If you publish someone else’s photo without permission, you’re violating a copyright.
- If you republish several lines or more of someone’s text without permission, you’re in violation.
- Linking to the original content, keeping the original author’s name on the piece, or failing to publish the article in full does not exempt you from copyright rules.
- If it isn’t yours, don’t publish it.
- If you’re stealing someone’s idea directly, you are also in violation.
- If you are using a picture that includes usage terms and you ignore the terms, you are violating copyright law.
If you want to use a few lines of content and link to it, take a few minutes to contact the original author and ask permission. Freelance writers maintain their own blogs but also publish for bigger companies. This means that big (sometimes scary) companies as well as small businesses may own the writer’s content exclusively and it is up to the company to determine if and how you may republish any of it.
Why is this such a big deal? You have to understand a bit about how Google works. One example involves a costuming blog I kept some time ago. When I maintained it, I wrote an article about “True Blood” costumes. It indexed well in Google. Since a blog host was paying me for traffic, this meant that I was earning part of my living based on Google search traffic.
In this instance, another blog (a very popular blog monetizing on “True Blood” content) republished the first 200 words of my 250 word blog post. The blog owner included my name and put an inactive URL to the bottom of the post. She thought that she had not violated my copyright because she credited me and included a link, but in truth she was stealing money right out of my pocket because those Google searches went to her blog instead of mine.
Today I just received a Google Alert indicating that text from my LARP column had been used on an Etsy seller’s site. This is a bad move for a costume maker. Not only did she use my content, she used a photo from a business without permission. Aside from looking unprofessional, this costume maker has put herself in a difficult position. She supposedly makes money off of LARPers and people going to conventions. I help run a LARP-like game, write a national column on LARP and happen to be friends with someone who covers conventions nationally. In the case of this plagiarist, stealing from me was an unwise business move. I have spent years building up my brand and online/personal relationships with people in this hobby and related industries. Many of them trust my word. If I describe her actions, they likely won’t respect this person or buy from her.
When you violate copyright, you are essentially stealing out of someone’s pocket, usually that of a writer or a small business. If you ask a writer for permission, you will usually receive permission to use a sentence or two in your blog and link to the original post. It’s only legal and polite to ask. How would you like to receive a Google Alert with your work or product showing up on someone else’s page?
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