Copyright Myths and Creative Common Sense

A handful of myths have spawned practices, particularly among bloggers and website owners, that turn copyright law on its head ... ... says LLRX's feature goes into substantial detail in discussing each of these myths. While the focus is on copyright under applicable US law, I am sure that much if not all the myth-debunking would apply in many other countries (caveat emptor, though, with that comment as I'm not a lawyer). But you don't need to be a lawyer to know what's right and what's not. Just look at the list and ask yourself: Do I disagree with any of these points? Yet here's where it becomes interesting. Whether you disagree or not, the reality is that blogs, websites and other electronic media make it so easy and simple to use anything you find, anywhere - a couple of mouse clicks and you have it for whatever use you want. If you look at my blog, you will find material that, legally speaking, must breach some country's copyright law. Every time I quote something from an online newspaper or journal, for instance, I guess I'm in breach of copyright. I often quote verbatim from articles in the Wall Street Journal (US law). Both publications have clear and prominent statements on their websites regarding copyright ownership of content and its use by others (the FT's I have a Creative Commons license for material on my blog -

If you do not know whether a work is subject to copyright, investigate before you use it.

If a work is subject to a copyright, don't use, quote or lift from it without getting permission first, unless you are confident you meet a fair use exception. For a blogger or site owner, that means ask before posting someone else's articles or photos.

If you don't know whether it's copyrighted or do not know for certain that it is in the public domain, ditto.

If you have any doubts, consult a copyright or intellectual property attorney before using someone else's work (advice costs less than defending an infringement claim does).

(Hat tip to NevilleHobson.com blog which focuses on business communication and technology.

Neville is currentlly the VP of New Marketing at NevilleHobson.com