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Copyright Law and Your Blog

Before I begin this article, I want to make it clear that I am not a lawyer and this article should not be considered a substitute for legal advice. This is a layman’s introductory understanding of copyright issues as they pertain to internet content. My comments may not apply outside the United States.

Your words and your ideas are valuable. When someone steals either, you should not regard it as “flattering” or “an honor” that they thought your content was good enough to steal. By taking your work and not attributing it to you, they are stealing not only your ideas but also potential visitors who will never know you were the creator of the content they liked so much.

What work is protected? Don’t I have to “publish” my work for it to be protected?

Any original text you write is protected. From http://copyright.gov:

Copyright protection subsists from the time the work is created in fixed form. The copyright in the work of authorship immediately becomes the property of the author who created the work. Only the author or those deriving their rights through the author can rightfully claim copyright. (Direct link)

The act of writing and posting your blog entry puts your work into fixed form, and you are immediately and automatically protected by copyright law. You do not have to register the copyright for the law to apply, although every lawyer will tell you registration will benefit you if your rights are infringed and you have to pursue the case.

Do I have to post a copyright symbol to protect my content?

No. Like registration, a copyright notice will be beneficial if your rights are infringed, but it is not required to establish your copyright.

What can I do to help protect my rights?

If your blogging software allows it, add a copyright notice to a common page element, such as your page footer or navigation bar. Visit http://copyright.gov for the formatting requirements of a copyright notice.

Consider using a service such as CopyScape to discover whether your content has been stolen. These services are not always free, so you will need to decide what you are willing to invest in protecting your content.

If you do not use a professional service, I recommend periodically putting some of the more memorable and unique phrases from your blog into your favorite search engines to see if any matches are found.

What about Fair Use?

The “Fair Use Doctrine” is an important limitation upon all copyrights. It allows some limited reproduction rights, such as the right to use quotes and excerpts in reviews or other educational contexts.

Fair Use is a complicated issue and is not strictly defined, so there is always room for interpretation. Generally, however, if someone quotes a portion of your blog post and attributes it to you, they are probably within the rights as Fair Use applies.

If they take a portion of your work and try to pass it off as their own, they are probably not within Fair Use rights. If someone claims their use of your text falls within the Fair Use Doctrine, you should carefully read the doctrine to see whether you agree. If you don’t agree, you can attempt to enforce your rights.

How do I enforce my rights?

If you discover a blog has infringed upon your rights, at a minimum you should:

* Take screenshots of the plagiarizing site. These screenshots should clearly show the URL, the date the stolen content was posted, and the stolen content. If the webpage is very long, you may need to take several screenshots to get the entire thing. I recommend you always get copies of the entire page so that you can prove they did not attribute your text to you later on the page, such as in a footnote.

* Take screenshots of your own site, showing the work in its original context. Again, make sure the URL and the date you posted the work are visible. If you have a copyright notice posted, make sure that is also visible.
Since websites are ever changing, this will help establish the content of the websites at the time your rights were infringed. This may be important if you want to pursue legal action and the other party changes their website when they hear you are pursuing the issue.

If you are going to pursue legal action against the infringing party, you should contact your lawyer prior to taking any other action. They may have specific steps for you to take.

Or, you can elect to deal with the infringer directly. If all you want is for your text to be removed, find their contact information via their blog, notify them (politely and rationally!) that they are using your text without your permission, and let them know what action you would like them to take.

If you cannot resolve the issue directly, you can contact the individual’s blogging service or web host. You can also go straight to the blog or host if you prefer not to deal with the individual directly.

If they are on blog host like Blogger or WordPress, go to the web host’s main page and check their Terms of Use. The TOU should provide you with the information you need to contact the host. Often this will require specific information from you, so be sure you read all the directions and submit all required information.

If they host their blog independently, you can still contact their web host. Don’t know their host? You can find it! Go to any big domain registrar, like GoDaddy.com. Enter their URL in the domain search box. You will receive a notice saying the blog has already been bought and should be provided with a link to “view details” or “view registration information.”

On the information page, look for the domain servers or domain nameservers. They will look something like this: NS1.SOMEWEBNAME.COM. Copy one of the nameservers and put it in your favorite search engine; you should be able to discover the name of the hosting company (it is sometimes, but not always, the same as the SOMEWEBNAME.COM part of the nameserver).

Go to the web host’s home page and read their Terms of Use. Again, you should find the information you need to report the copyright infringement.

Per the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, web hosts and ISPs are not liable for copyright infringement in and of itself, but if you notify them of copyright infringement and that infringement exists, they are liable to act upon it (see the UCLA Online Institute for Cyberspace Law and Policy site for more information). Typically, this means ensuring the content is removed; they make take additional action depending on their Terms of Use. 

October 19, 2008 Blogging Basics

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