Copyright: Part 4 – Protecting Your Copyright
July 2, 2008 by Lillie
Table of contents for Copyright
- Copyright: Part 1 – Just Because It’s Online Doesn’t Mean It’s in the Public Domain
- Copyright: Part 2 – US Copyright Law
- Copyright: Part 3 – Fair Use
- Copyright: Part 4 – Protecting Your Copyright
Now that we’ve covered the basics of copyright and fair use, let’s talk about what you can do to protect your copyright and defend your rights if your copyright is infringed.
Note that I have never had copyright infringed, so I am not writing from personal experience. I hope you never have to use this advice, but if you are in the position of having your rights violated, I hope these suggestions from others who have been victimized will be helpful.
- To reduce the risks of having your content stolen, be proactive. Although the copyright symbol is not required, you may want to use it on your Web site, blog, individual posts, and feeds. The notice won’t stop determined content thieves, but it may stop unauthorized use of your content by people who don’t realize that just because it’s on the Internet doesn’t mean it’s in the public domain.
- Be prepared to prove that you are the original author of the work. Since blog posts can be back-dated, the post date is not necessarily proof of when the post was written. Even the dates of comments can be changed, so the dates of comments might not be sufficient evidence in court, either. However, your database file should have the actual date the post was made. If you create posts in your word processor rather than directly in your blog platform, the file on your hard drive will have the date it was created as well as the last date it was modified. For books and other longer works, you may want to mail a hardcopy of the manuscript to yourself. Have the clerk at the Post Office wrap the package in date-stamped tape and don’t open the package until you have to present it in court.
- Monitor your content by searching or using Google Alerts for your articles. Jeanne Dininni found the unauthorized use of her work because she set up a Google alert for a unique phrase in an article. Don’t expect to find your article by searching for the title as the unauthorized user has probably changed the title. You can also use Copyscape to search for duplicate content.
- As soon as you discover that your work has been used without permission, contact the copyright infringer. You may want to start out assuming the infringement was out of ignorance. Describe the work that was used without authorization and explain when and where you originally posted it. Explain what you want the user to do: remove the material immediately, ask for permission, pay for the rights to use the content. Mike Goad describes what he did when he discovered his article – on copyright, no less! – had been used without permission and the successful result.
- Even if you have no objection to a specific use, contacting the user every time there is a copyright infringement helps establish that you are taking steps to protect your copyright. If you end up in court suing someone for copyright infringement, being able to demonstrate that you have not allowed others to use your content without permission will be to your advantage.
- If the user does not respond to your request and a follow-up message, contact their Web site host. The terms of service of most Web hosting companies allow them to shut down Web site that infringe the copyrights of others. Of course, sometimes, the burden of proof they put on the copyright owner makes the protection they offer more theoretical than practical, but it is a tool to use.
If these steps do not get results, you may decide to pursue legal action, which is beyond the scope of this series. This guide is designed to cover the basics of copyright and give you some ideas to protect your copyright.
More detailed information, including legal remedies, can be found in the following articles and sites:
Articles about Copyright by Mike Goad
Copyright Articles at Research Copyright
Digital Millenium Copyright Act at Google
Do It Yourself Copyright Protection Online by Robert Niles
Internet Copyright Law: A Rat Pilfered My Web Site Cheese – What Do I Do?by Richard Keyt
Plagiarism Today - site dedicated to content theft, copyright infringement, and plagiarism
Six Steps to Prevent Content Theft and Combat Copyright Infringement by John-Paul
What to Do When Someone Steals Your Content by Lorelle Fossen
The nice intro about the copyright, good article, it is a refresher
Handmade Buttonss last blog post..Hand Painted Bamboo Cotton Yarn No 448
Interesting article. Thanks for the mention and for including links to my material.
Mike Goads last blog post..Well Weathered
Thanks for the link, Lillie!
I think it’s so important to tell other writers and bloggers about Google Alerts. They are such an easy, automatic way to keep track of our work! Once we set them up, Google does all the work — sending us an e-mail containing a link to any site that posts our piece whenever one is found. Using Google Alerts provides a real, no-maintenance way for protecting our work–provided we can either find or intentionally place a unique phrase somewhere in our piece by which Google can identify it as ours.
I’ve actually found a number of different articles of mine that have been posted to various websites — some totally without authorization and others with authorization to post but either with unauthorized changes to the article or removal of my byline.
Google Alerts are an excellent weapon in the writer’s anti-plagiarism, search engine ranking protection, and TAQM (Total Article Quality Management) arsenal. Personally, I’d never be without them.
This is an excellent post (and series), Lillie! It’s chock-full of practical information that can help build writers’ awareness of copyright issues and make them more proactive in protecting their work. The resource links you’ve provided at the end of the post look phenomenal! I’ve already read the articles on Mike Goad’s site, and they’re great! Definitely plan to check out the others!
Thanks for a fantastic post!
Jeanne
P.S. Wasn’t aware one could change the dates of comments. I’m unable to do that on my blog. But that’s probably because Orble doesn’t allow me to edit comments other than my own (though I can delete them).
The Google Alerts tip is appreciated. And this entire series is wonderfully informative!
You always have some really pertinent information on your site and this copy right series is great. You are right about how many people use article banks/directories, but don’t realize they are basically giving almost all of their rights away. It can really press the copyright issue too, because many people will take work from article directories without citing the author’s resource box.
In regards to creating files in a wordprocessor, the date on these can be manipulated pretty easily, so this would not serve as definitive proof, but would help.
Good points on what to do if you find your work being used without permission. Thanks for the useful information.
Dianes last blog post..Independence Undertones In Movies, Shows, and Games
A perfect written and informative article. Thank you Lillie
Hamurabis last blog post..Accident this weekend
Very informative post. Your articles are very helpful and provide valuable information.
Thank you for the interesting article. Copyright is always an issue. Another how trustworthy is some information on the Internet.
I think its important to protect what is yours. Besides, you are the one doing all the work, posting and taking pictures etc. Thanks for going into detail about copyright laws. It’s something everyone should know.
I really like using the free service at Copyscape. It’s a quick way to see where your content is lurking on the net. I’ll have to check out Google Alerts. I didn’t realize it had such a service.
A new kind of thinking is obviously needed. If the internet is not the public domain, then the type of content “published” there will have to reflect that. I guess I am saying you dont leave all your valuables out on the street overnight.
A new kind of thinking is obviously needed. If the internet is not the public domain, then the type of content “published” there will have to reflect that.
i was looking for this info, more people need to know about practical copyrights
andrew@vitaminpack´s last blog ..senior moment vitamins
andrew,
Copyright is important, and we should know a little about it if we are going to write and publish.
Responses to this post: