"What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun." - Ecclesiastes 1:9
Despite even God's admission that there is nothing new, that everything is just a rehashing of something else, there are still rules by which we must abide when creating. This includes writing articles, like the one you are reading right now.
The easy way for me to write this article would be for me to Google the topic, find someone else's writings and post them as mine. Or if I wanted to be sure I sounded better, smarter and more insightful than I really am, I would certainly go find someone better than me and pass off his article as my own. If I'm looking for more readers, I may go find something popular and copy and paste.
The problem with all of these, of course, is they are all illegal. In fact, a lot of what happens online is, at best, unethical. YouTube got into a lot of trouble a while back for hosting videos that users posted without the owners' permission. "Google Image Search" has become synonymous with stock photography. And we won't even get into email forwards!
Here are a few things to remember when writing your next article. It's one thing to put a new spin on an old idea; it's something else completely to claim that idea is your own.
General Rules
Everything online is owned by someone. If you start with that, you'll be pretty safe. While it is true that some people are willing to share, the majority of internet "land owners" are proud of their stuff and probably don't want you to have it.
Cite, give credit and drop names. If you do obtain permission to use a person's work, give them credit for it. Not only is it the right and legal thing to do, but it saves you from looking like a fool. For example, imagine that you open a restaurant and want to serve soda. You come to an agreement with the Coca Cola company to serve Coke. What would people think if you changed the name to "Your Name" cola and tried to serve it? Bottom line, if you use someone's stuff, with their permission, give them credit for it.
It's OK to quote. There's nothing wrong with quoting someone if it supports what you are writing, as long as you attribute the quote correctly. A quote is a piece of what someone said, wrote, pantomimed. It is NOT the entire thing. That's stealing. We have heard of instances where the Associated Press has sued writers for copyright infringement over as little as 9 consecutive identical words that were used without permission. This has become much more common recently.
What about well known anonymous writings? My first suggestion is to make sure the author really is unknown. How many people thought "There's nothing new under the sun" was anonymous? If the author of a story, anecdote, writing is truly unknown, then there are no laws against using it. But keep in mind the Coke example. If you heard a good story that you want to share, chances are someone else heard it too. When you try to portray someone else's stuff as your own, even if you don't know who the someone is, you will get found out sooner or later.
Reprint Rights. If someone gives reprint rights to his writing, he is not giving permission to attach your name to it. He is simply giving permission to reprint what he wrote some place else. It's still his writing.
Rules for online images
Google Image Search. Google has provided a great opportunity to steal someone else's work. I'm sure that was not their intent, but it has certainly become the outcome. And in the interest of full disclosure, I used to steal images using the Google Image Search too. Until I found out it was illegal. Here's an example. A friend of a friend owns an IT company and a few years ago created a web site to promote his company. He found the perfect image on Google to use on his home page. Recently, a collections company contacted him to say he owed them $4000 for use of the image for the years it was on his site.
Images from news and other sites. Most news sites either use their own photographers to take the pictures they display, or they contract with a wire service, like the Associated Press. News organizations pay companies like the AP a lot of money to use their images and stories. You are not allowed to take it from the news site and use it for free. Doesn't work that way. The same goes for images on other sites. They are either owned by the owner of that site or, hopefully, used with permission. To include them in your article, you need permission as well.
Logos and artwork. This one is a little trickier. Basically, it comes down to usage. There are times when you can use a company's logo or name as an illustration or teaching aid. It is generally not acceptable, however, to use it to promote you or something you might be selling without permission of the company. Your best bet is to always get permission or just don't use it.
The bottom line Companies are cracking down and becoming very aggressive on infringement issues. Be very aware and very careful. Recently new systems have come online making it simple to detect copied images or text across the entire Internet.
The writers at SearchWarp are a talented, creative group of people. I know we all have the ability to produce great work without having to "borrow" from someone else. Just keep these few things in mind when you write and you'll be in good shape.
After all, someone once said, "Neither a borrower or a lender be." (That was Polonius from Shakespeare's Hamlet)
The writer of Ecclesiasted was referring to behavior when he wrote that there is nothing new under the sun, for human beings are innately the same in the range open to them. Yet, at the same time the individual make-uo of each person is unique, so that DNA, for example, has new combinations that add up to uniqueness.. Of course there are many new things or variations on themes., ideas, or concepts. You gave good advice to writers.
Thanks for the comment. I am aware that the theme of the Ecclesiastes is not really related to the copyright issues I addressed. But it is an example of an oft-quoted phrase that is rarely cited and often used as an excuse to copy the work of others.
Rob, a friend had warned me about the images because of my websites. I took him seriously. I take your reporting seriously, as well. Thank you for this important information. Respond to this comment
Hi Rob, excellent presentation filled with lots of info. I wll stop stealing articles now.HA! Just kiddin'. I do appreciate this helpful information. It does help to know that even if the copyright symbol is missing, it doesn't mean its a free for all. By the way, great piece of literature you used as an example.
Very helpful article, Rob. The same rules of writing should apply when
writing an article as when writing a term paper or book. If you quote a
source, whether you have permission or not, give due credit, and where
you cite an Internet source, it's a good practice to mention the
website as part of giving due credit. Plagiarism can be too easy, and
the big loser is often the literary thief's own under-used brain.
Thanks for a much needed warning to all Internet users, especially
writers. I'll be watching out. ~mogama~
» left by Hannah Quinn from Australia (1 year 17 days ago.)
Rob,
As someone who had their work stolen by a blogger, and had to take action to have it removed - before I could use it again myself!! - I find your article informative and strong. Sadly, it will mostly appeal to those who want to do the right thing rather than those who just want to steal other's work and call it their own. Good job and advice!
Thanks for the comment, Hannah. I doubt my article will help anyone who intentionally goes looking to rip someone else off. But hopefully it will help those who just don't know any better. Respond to this comment
All good points well-taken. I've taught writing for years, plagiarism being a part of the education. It's interesting to note that you can plagiarize even if you state the author's name yet come too close to his / her original phrasing in your paraphrased statements. Regarding pictures, photos, etc. I heard of a case where a janitor of a school pulled a child's drawing out of the trash and posted it on the Internet only to get sued by the author. Really!!!
I guess you've got to watch your patoot, carefully. But when in doubt, it's best to give credit in some way, so that even if you mess up, you get the benefit of the doubt because of the effort. Most people are reasonable and only want a fair shake.
» left by Linda DeWitt from Oregon (218 days 8 hours ago.)
Thank you so much for responding to my question and leading me to this article. I am new at this and certainly do not want to infringe on some one else's writings.
» left by Nenita Wells from Providence, RI (135 days 11 hours ago.)
Hi Rob.
Thank you for a very interesting and very informative piece of work. The answers to my questions regarding copyright are all here in this article. Thank you.
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