Blog content and its legality

14 years ago

Originally Posted by capamando

Hello,

My wife and I are developing our blog and are clueless about the legality of using information that we find on the internet like videos, articles, news and other people's blog. How can we insert this kind of info into our own blog without it being illegal?

Thanks

OK, good question. With the caveat that I am not a lawyer, here goes:

1. You can use content that other people have granted the right for you to use, for example, by submitting to Article Directories for the express purpose of syndication. See the rules of the individual directories for specifics - generally, you need to include the author's bio or resource box in return.

2. You can use videos uploaded to video sharing sites such as Youtube. People submit their content to such sites, again - generally - for the purpose of syndication. Where the provider does not wish their content to be distributed, they will disable the embedding facility.

3. You can use any content that is in the Public Domain in any way you want. But be careful: there are different rules for different countries.

4. You can use PLR (Private Label Rights) materials as directed by the legal copyright holder. The rights vary enormously, so again be careful to read and understand them before you use such materials. In addition, buy your PLR for the originator of the material if at all possible so you know the rights passed to you are genuine.

5. You can use extracts from any copyrighted material selectively under the 'Fair Use' rule, but be very careful that you fully understand it before you do so or you could end up with people chasing you for breach of copyright.

Hope this help and good luck with the blog.

Cheers,

Will

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fcf360

14 years ago

Originally Posted by capamando

Hello,

My wife and I are developing our blog and are clueless about the legality of using information that we find on the internet like videos, articles, news and other people's blog. How can we insert this kind of info into our own blog without it being illegal?

Thanks

As long as you give the credit to the original link, or the creator of such content, its fine for you to use.

Or you can get inspiration from the original content, modify it, augment it, add to it and can make it your own.

Thanks
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Will Edwards

14 years ago

Originally Posted by fcf360

As long as you give the credit to the original link, or the creator of such content, its fine for you to use.

Or you can get inspiration from the original content, modify it, augment it, add to it and can make it your own.

Everyone's entitled to an opinion of course, but the first sentence above is simply wrong and could land you in a lot of trouble. There are people on the web pursuing others for copyright breaches. You CANNOT simply take other people's copyrighted content and post it without express permission; other than under the terms of 'Fair Use'.

Will

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talewins

14 years ago

Originally Posted by fcf360

As long as you give the credit to the original link, or the creator of such content, its fine for you to use.

Or you can get inspiration from the original content, modify it, augment it, add to it and can make it your own.

That is not so. Creators of such material do not lose ownership rights just because they post it on the web. Not only should you ask for permission but you should also make sure the person you are asking has the authority to release that property because there are a lot of thieves out there. I speak specifically of those grabbing material that has been lifted bodily from someone else's site. If you aren't familiar with material from The Wall Street Journal, for example, you could see it on the thief's web site and think it must be okay to use it if the thief says so. No. If Wall Street journal sees you using their material it will let its string of lawyers get angry with you.

But there is one way to get lots of great music and such for free. That's by signing up as an affiliate at Amazon.com It offers hordes of free music apps with no restrictions whatsoever that you can post all the beautiful music you could ever ask for. And it isn't just free music being offered either. It will even give you a free look before you sign up as an affiliate.

If you need free artwork I maintain a list of great suppliers at
FREE ARTWORK And How To use it

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Will Edwards

14 years ago

Originally Posted by talewins

But there is one way to get lots of great music and such for free. That's by signing up as an affiliate at Amazon.com It offers hordes of free music apps with no restrictions whatsoever that you can post all the beautiful music you could ever ask for. And it isn't just free music being offered either. It will even give you a free look before you sign up as an affiliate.
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That sounds very interesting - how do you get this free music then? I signed up as an Amazon affiliate many years ago and still have an account even though I don't promote anything from them.

Will

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Janice Sperry

14 years ago

I was going to reply and rambel on about what I knew. Everything I was going to say is in Will's post except that he put it much better. Great post Will - clear, concise and I agree with all your points.

Also to the OP. Good for you to ask this question. If you view many of the newer blogs in the last year or so it is clear that most bloggers either don't have a clue or don't care about this issue. Someday it will come back and bite them.

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JohnMcCabe

14 years ago

Like JMS, I was formulating a reply, but Will already covered most of the basics.

One thing I will add - in the absence of a specific license, you can always ask permission of the rights holder. Contact them, explain exactly what content of theirs you want to use and how you want to use it, and ask for permission. If they say yes, keep the email, or whatever, granting permission. That becomes your license.

For example, say you want to use a specific piece of music as background for a video. Many bands and artists, especially independents, will allow you to use a track as long as you also add a slide giving them credit and pointing to where viewers can buy the music for themselves.

As I typed that last paragraph, another thing popped into my head for finding content you can use. Look for things with a Creative Commons license. I find a lot of good photos, for example, by searching Flickr with the CC filter enabled.

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Ken Leatherman

14 years ago

Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe

Like JMS, I was formulating a reply, but Will already covered most of the basics.

As I typed that last paragraph, another thing popped into my head for finding content you can use. Look for things with a Creative Commons license. I find a lot of good photos, for example, by searching Flickr with the CC filter enabled.

John, I knew we kept you around for some reason. Now that is a very good tip that I hadn't heard of. But hey being old like you and I are, we can still learn a thing or two.

Ken Leatherman

The Old Geezer

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pbarnhart

14 years ago

Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe

As I typed that last paragraph, another thing popped into my head for finding content you can use. Look for things with a Creative Commons license. I find a lot of good photos, for example, by searching Flickr with the CC filter enabled.

Even Creative Commons must be used carefully. Most CC content is licensed for non-commercial use - and it is up to the owner to decide if your use is 'commercial.' You also must provide attribution, and usually license the work its appearing in under the same license. This means if you use a "non-commercial, share-alike" image on your blog post, then the original owner may consider your entire blog post to be a single work and request you either drop the image or CC-license your content.

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Caleb Spilchen

14 years ago

Hey There,

If your worried about legalities, you should be posting manually first-of-all, because with auto-blog you don't have much of a choice of what copyright protected content is posted (unless you do it via RSS Feeds).

The best thing to do is take ideas, and then rewrite them in your own way on your blog. Don't take other peoples stuff, but make it your own. Say some celeb does something and you want to post it, then write your own post about it, maybe including details you found on a couple gossip sites, its always best to reference them even when you've wrote it yourself.

I hope this post helps you, but it's my personal opinion. I am certainly not a lawyer, and I'm only 15, you'd always be best to consult a legal professional.

Caleb

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Trucker

14 years ago

True .... I go with Edwards & would like to add something for making a blog more realistic for users & internet moves ...

a) Using the blog as a tool for forwarding more innovative ideas

b) Use RSS feeds to make your blog more informative as well as it updates you

c) Target your segment, this will promote your ideas

d) Use snaps to grab more thoughts from the readers..

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talewins

14 years ago

Boy, that was some fast responses, wasn't it? Not just fast advice, but good.

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Caleb Spilchen

14 years ago

I forgot to add, you should check your articles with CopyScape and ArticleChecker.com to make sure there actually unique.

As well, if your looking for content. You can get it from the AP, however, there are different ways to. One you put it in an iFrame with there adsense ads, and the other is publishing it, by paying for it.

If your looking for content, and you want a nice blog, then you might have to pay for it, or the solution is to just make your own, which is what I would do.

Unique is always the way to go, it gets your readers interested, after all; who wants to read the same thing twice.

Caleb

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Trucker

14 years ago

You can get a good music review at the sites like peaceloveproductions, they give away a nice feel to the available music promos!!!

Moreover, Midi Studio, Midi Farm are a core source of getting music for your Blog or site where you can attract a majority of music listeners right away.

I hate searching out music reviews, someone tell me a good place to find them

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Dogman

14 years ago

You can use the information as long as you give the person the credit for their work. I have also been told you have to put a link to their website also. I do use others materials and I do give credit to whom worte the article and I will place where the article came from so I will not get into trouble.

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Ken Leatherman

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Dogman

You can use the information as long as you give the person the credit for their work. I have also been told you have to put a link to their website also. I do use others materials and I do give credit to whom worte the article and I will place where the article came from so I will not get into trouble.

Dogman,

You are giving very dangerous advice. Are you an attorney? I suspect not, as what you are saying is not correct in my opinion.

As has been mentioned by other posters in this thread you can find yourself in "Hot Water". There are many companies today that spend big bucks to find people who violate their copyright. In some cases, especially if your site has made money from the content, you may be sued for everything you have.

Yes there are sights out there where you have permission to use the material as is, as long as you use it in accordance with their TOS. But to arbitrarily suggest you can use any content online just by giving credit is not good advice. Please clarify your statement as there will be those here who may interpret them incorrectly.

Ken Leatherman

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kindsvater

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Dogman

You can use the information as long as you give the person the credit for their work. I have also been told you have to put a link to their website also. I do use others materials and I do give credit to whom worte the article and I will place where the article came from so I will not get into trouble.

This, and what fcf360 said above, are absolutely FALSE.

One should assume everything they come across is copyrighted. Then look for exceptions, such public domain, or whether express, written permission is given for others to use it in some manner.

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capamando

14 years ago

To all of you who replied to my post,

Thank you very much....I received more info and advice that I expected considering this was my first post. Truly a mutually beneficial way to go about helping others.

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christopherNV

Banned 14 years ago

[DELETED]

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JohnMcCabe

14 years ago

Originally Posted by pbarnhart

Even Creative Commons must be used carefully. Most CC content is licensed for non-commercial use - and it is up to the owner to decide if your use is 'commercial.' You also must provide attribution, and usually license the work its appearing in under the same license. This means if you use a "non-commercial, share-alike" image on your blog post, then the original owner may consider your entire blog post to be a single work and request you either drop the image or CC-license your content.

You are absolutely right. Thanks for adding the clarification I left out.

I guess I got into the habit of looking for commercial-use licenses, and I have no problem giving attribution. So I left it out when I mentioned finding photos on flickr. Sloppy of me...

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Caleb Spilchen

14 years ago

Hey,

I forgot, if you want photos for your site:

stock.xchng - the leading free stock photography site

Allows you to use there photo's, free, and royalty free (be sure to double-check there policy always).

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paul wolfe

14 years ago

I forgot, if you want photos for your site:

stock.xchng - the leading free stock photography site

Allows you to use there photo's, free, and royalty free (be sure to double-check there policy always).

Caleb

Thanks for that link. Very useful.

Paul

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Online Bliss

14 years ago

Or you can get inspiration from the original content, modify it, augment it, add to it and can make it your own.

I am not a Lawyer,
however I must state that almost everything was modified
or created out of inspiration from a past model.
The automobile for example.
There have been many lawsuits over how closely
that model has been modified or inspired.

Damn it,
here's the part where I suggest a Lawyer.

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Blog content and its legality

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