I am getting sick and tired of “bloggers” who think splogs are legal. Here is a list of some of the common arguments they use, and why they are 100% wrong.
No Notice, No Copyright
Most countries do not require you to notify anyone that you own the copyright on something. The most common form of a copyright notice on websites are the little “Copyright 2007, Company ABC, All Rights Reserved” notes on the bottom of each page.
Check up with your country’s laws, but in most countries, including the U.S., having a copyright notice is not required.
Syndication = Free Content
When a blogger posts a RSS or Atom feed they do so to allow you to get the newest posts from their blog. Unless they explicitly state you are allowed to copy the content, it is illegal to copy the content.
Just because a user posts a RSS feed, that does not mean you can syndicate the content on your blog. Especially on a blog with advertisements.
No Registration, No Copyright
Most countries have adopted the Berne Convention, which states that any work you create is copyrighted from the get-go. This means you do not have to register for a copyright to get a copyright.
To get technical (in U.S. law), this means you can file DMCA complaints even if you have not registered your work. You can not, however, sue for money, since that requires registration.
But I’m Not Making Money From It!
Doesn’t matter, regardless of whether or not you are making money from the infringement you are still breaking the law. It is illegal! Period!
But It Was Just Fair Use…
The Fair Use laws were created to allow commentary, parodies, accidental inclusion of copyrighted material on camera, etc. They were not created to allow you to copy people’s work.
They E-Mailed Me The Content
Unless they specifically say “you are allowed to post this,” you are not allowed to post the content. They still own the copyright, and they have not licensed it out to you.
It Was Worthless Content, They Can’t Sue Me!
If content does not have any real commercial value (meaning the person is not making money from it), they really can’t sue you for money, however, they can still force you to stop the infringement.
Oh, So You Don’t Want Your Content Shared?
Most bloggers want links to their content shared, but they don’t like their content being republished illegally.
I Was In A Picture They Used, So I Own It!
Unless you were the photographer you don’t own it. Of course if a photographer is taking a picture on your behalf then you own it, but that is an entirely different part of the law.
Run, Run, As Fast As You Can, You Can’t Catch Me, I’m The Gingerbread Man!
Keep drinking that kool-aid and remember, what goes around comes around.
Please subscribe, or else I will cry. Do you really want to make a programmer cry?
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