Copyright content on the web Feb19 '07
I recently noticed a spike in traffic for one of my blog posts: The Laughing Heart. Someone was referencing it elsewhere, and apparently a lot of people liked it.
Here's the thing. The blog post contains a poem by someone else. Word-for-word - the poem is an exact copy of the source. I didn't write the poem myself - I just wanted to share it. Am I allowed to post a poem from someone else - word-for-word?
I did the intelligent thing by quoting the source (the name of the author), but something tells me that's not enough.
For example, by everyone viewing the poem on my site, I could very well be making ad money off all of those hits (if in fact I had advertisements on my site). The point is... I am benefiting off the work of someone else. The copyright content of someone else.
In today's "free-form internet society," where people can post anything about themselves or others - the line is blurred between original and copyright content, and who's to know what's right and what's wrong. What's legal and illegal.
With the increased simplicity of posting content to the web, most people don't think twice about the legality of the content.
This issue is hardly limited to poems. Copyright content is a big issue on the web - anything from YouTube videos to music chords.
I don't have any great insights on how to avoid problems with copyright content, except for this closing thought:
If you have to think twice about posting something, it's probably better not to post it.
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matthom 
is published and produced by Matt Thommes - an independent publishing enthusiast, mobile blogger, content creator, informative writer, web developer from a suburb of Chicago.
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