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What the Meltwater Case Could Mean for Bloggers

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meltwater-620-sizedLast month, a federal district judge in New York City handed down a controversial ruling in the case of Associated Press (AP) v. Meltwater.

The mammoth 91-page decision, a summary judgment in favor of the AP, was a crushing defeat for the news aggregation service Meltwater, which is left considering “options” after the decision was handed down.

But ever since the ruling was handed down there have been questions raised about what the broader implications of this ruling could be. After all, it’s not every day we get a fair use ruling on the issue of online news and aggregation, the impact, theoretically at least, could reach not only other aggregation services, but news search engines and even bloggers that write about news stories first reported by others.

So, what are the potential impacts for bloggers? To find out we first have to take a look at the background of the case, what the judge ruled and why.

On that note, let’s delve into the case itself and find out the issues that’s at the core of the dispute. [Read more…] about What the Meltwater Case Could Mean for Bloggers

Should Bloggers Care About Copyright Infringement?

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Decision ImageIf you blog long enough, it’s not so much a matter of if but when your site gets infringed upon. Between the spammers that are likely to scrape your posts, plagiarist bloggers that will take what they like as their own and others who will try to share your content in ways that don’t give you as much as a link back, you’re bound to hit at least a few infringements if you look hard enough.

But should you care? Is it really worth the time to search for such infringements, find them and stop them? After all, many bloggers have their content infringed upon and never even realize it, seemingly not hurt by it at all. Others, however, appear to obsess over it, tracking every infringement and working doggedly to stop it.

So which approach is right? Well, that’s a personal decision and it’s one that stems from your specific situation including your search engine position, your personal feelings toward your work and the other sites in your niche.

Whether you want to care or don’t want to care, it’s pretty easy to justify your position. However, it’s important to be honest and make the decision that’s right for you and for your content.

With that in mind, here are a few factors to consider. [Read more…] about Should Bloggers Care About Copyright Infringement?

Are Bloggers Journalists? Are Journalists Bloggers?

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Journalism Image of NewspapersIn 2010, a survey conducted by PRWeek and PRNewswire found that over half of all bloggers consider themselves to be journalists. This was up from just a third of all bloggers two years before.

The question of whether or not bloggers are journalists is an old one and it can be an important one legally. As the EFF puts it, journalists can often times keep confidential sources private, gain extra protection in libel cases in the form of retraction statutes and receive fee waivers when Freedom of Information Act requests.

But while all of this is true, The Atlantic, in 2011, argued that we shouldn’t care whether or not bloggers are journalists, that the issue isn’t very important and that reporters at large publications and organization have much stronger protections than the title “journalist”.

Still, the subject is a sensitive one for bloggers, who are often eager for the weight and credibility that comes with being a journalist. When blogger Crystal Cox was ruled to not be a journalist in 2011 and ordered to pay millions in a defamation lawsuit filed by the founder of an investment group, after denying her protection under the state’s shield law that protects journalist sources, many bloggers took up arms. However, once the details of the case came to light and it was clear just how wrong much of Cox’s information was, attitudes slowly changed.

But it leaves the bigger question unresolved: Are bloggers journalists? To get the answer, we have to first look at what the question is really asking and try to drill down to the important answers. [Read more…] about Are Bloggers Journalists? Are Journalists Bloggers?

3 Self-Gifts to Protect Your Blog Legally

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Present ImageThe holiday season, for most, is a time for giving gifts to others. However, it’s also often a time of being generous to oneself and enjoying the finer things in life that, often times, we deprive ourselves most of the year.

When it comes to your blog and the laws that govern it, it’s no different. Many of us ignore the basic steps that we can take to protect ourselves legally thinking that it’s too expensive, too time-consuming or generally not worthwhile. However, the moment a legal crisis hits, we often begin to regret that thinking.

So, with the holidays upon us and, perhaps with a little more time on the clock and income in our pocket, the time has come to reevaluate how we protect ourselves legally and maybe take a few extra steps to ensure a brighter future for our sites and ourselves.

On that note, here are three legally-minded gifts that you can give yourself right now and better protect you and your work for years to come. [Read more…] about 3 Self-Gifts to Protect Your Blog Legally

Google’s Pirate Penalty Adds Another Reason to Not Plagiarize Online

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Skull and CrossbonesIf you didn’t already know that it wasn’t a good idea to plagiarize content on the Web, you missed a lot of reasons to not do it.

Not only is it ethically dubious, almost always illegal and prone to serious duplicate content penalties from Google, but it’s also a quick ways to make enemies of people you should probably be trying to work with rather than fighting against.

However, if none of those reasons are compelling to you, then Google has provided yet another. Late last week, the search engine announced that it will begin factoring in copyright notices it receives, a so-called “pirate penalty”.

What does this mean? Simply that Google will begin demoting sites that are the subject to a large number of copyright notices. This makes it so that copyright holders, in addition to possibly being able to shut down your site, they can also seriously hurt your search engine ranking more broadly.

Though the move is largely targeted at websites that traffic in pirated content, plagiarists and spammers should be given at least some pause for concern as this new clampdown could easily impact them as well.

The devil is in the details and Google has been very stingy with those to date. However, there is a little that we do know. [Read more…] about Google’s Pirate Penalty Adds Another Reason to Not Plagiarize Online

How to Write a Proper Copyright Notice

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Even if you are completely unfamiliar with copyright law, you’re probably aware that most websites have some kind of copyright notice in their footer and, as such, you probably should too.

However, anything worth doing is worth doing well and, while a copyright notice isn’t particularly difficult, doing it wrong may create confusion or, in worst-case scenarios, thorny issues that may have to be cleared up should a dispute arise.

So how do you create a solid, functional copyright notice? There’s no one set formula on how to do it, but the best notices all have a set of components and convey several pieces of important information.

With that in mind, the best place to start answering the question is by looking at the purpose a copyright notice serves and how it can serve it. [Read more…] about How to Write a Proper Copyright Notice

Avoid Legal Trouble by Knowing Copyrights Matter on the Social Web, Too

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Bloggers and online publishers have to follow copyright laws just as any traditional publisher must.  However, there is a gray area of copyright law, called fair use, that many online publishers refer to when their content is called into question.

So what are the copyright laws and fair use legalese that you need to know as a blogger so you stay out of legal trouble?

First, understand that claiming ignorance is not a viable excuse in a court of law.  The onus is on you as a publisher to know the laws that apply to you.

Second, understand that every piece of written content, audio content, video content, image content, and so on is owned by someone.  Whether the person who created it owns it or the piece is owned by someone who purchased it or derived ownership in some other way — the bottom-line is the same.  Someone owns it!  Therefore, the owner holds the rights to that piece of content and that piece of content is automatically protected under copyright law in the United States (laws might differ in other countries, so if you live in another country, be sure to do your research and learn the laws that apply to you).  That means, the owner holds the copyright to that piece of content.

Third, understand that you cannot re-publish another person’s work without their permission or acceptable compensation per copyright laws.  Permission can be written and compensation could be monetary or another form of payment that the owner agrees to.

Wait a minute!  You might be wondering – “does that mean that I have to get permission to use every image I publish on my blog that I didn’t create?”

Technically, yes.

But don’t freak out yet!  This is where fair use comes into play.

Fair use is that gray area of copyright law that says you can republish another person’s work for the purpose of adding commentary, criticism, education, research, or news reporting.  However, that’s a pretty vague description that just about any online publisher could hide behind.  And that’s exactly why fair use is so gray.  If someone accuses you of copyright infringement, you could defend yourself claiming you republished the work under the guidelines of fair use.  However, that’s not a solid defense, and you might not win.  Again, it’s a gray area of the law that is not cut and dry.

So what’s a blogger to do?  You need images to add some visual appeal to your blog, and you want to be able to refer to other content that you read online and want to discuss on your blog within your posts.  However, these copyright laws are really limiting your creative flow.

Don’t worry.  There are several ways to get around strict copyright laws, which I’m going to discuss in more detail in my next couple of posts on Performancing. 

In a nutshell, here’s the gist of what you should avoid if you don’t want to get in trouble with the law:

  1. Don’t plagiarize.  It’s okay to quote a snippet of another person’s content, but don’t republish the entire piece and pretend you wrote it.  That’s breaking another law entirely!
  2. Always attribute your sources with a link to them within your blog posts.
  3. Don’t use an image on your blog unless you have permission to do so or it has a copyright license attached to it that allows you to use it.  (I’ll be writing more about this next week).
  4. Find images, audio, and video content to publish on your blog that you’re actually allowed to use.  (I’ll give you some good sources in a post next week).

So there you go — copyright laws for bloggers and online publishers condensed into approximately 500 words and devoid of legal jargon.  Stay tuned for lots of additional copyright help here on Performancing!