The Stealing Of Intellectual Property Online (Part Three)
Posted by the Networking Goddess in General, Networking Tools, Online Networking
Email the link for this page to a friend!
Part Three: What not to do!
1. Do not under any circumstances accuse before you know who actually stole the material. Do your due diligence, find out, then you can share the “facts” that are available. The online small business community is VERY savvy and will have no problem drawing their own conclusions, once the facts are made known.
2. Do nothing about this challenge we are all facing. To do nothing, either to prevent theft or to deal with it when it happens to you will surely aid in the increase of the act.
3. Expect our governments to be able to fix this challenge for us. As Dana Blankenhorn so succinctly said:“No matter how noble the goal, the pattern is the same.Want to protect the environment? Small auto shops denounce laws on dumping oil into streams. Want to plan the city? Small developers denounce you for taking their property. Want to protect music copyright? Restaurants want an exception for their mood music. And on and on and on.
Whenever you beat-back “regulation,” you leave room for charlatans and crooks. But whenever you propose regulation, you will be denounced as a “big government liberal” by groups which don’t want the hassle of obeying the new law.
The point is, crooks hide in boundaries. Cops charged with policing these boundaries may (by accident) hassle honest businesses. Regulators who seek to prevent crime by requiring forms (civil rules, or rules of civility) may also hassle the law-abiding.
So we have to decide how much hassle we’re willing to deal with from the cops, and how much regulation from the civil authority, in order to protect ourselves.”
Things To Remember:
1. Use the Internet as a source of ideas but don’t copy what you find. You really don’t know who actually wrote the material you see since people hire ghost writers and content writers all the time. You may be stealing the material of someone you personally know and suffer huge consequences because of it.
2. Some people feel that when your site has material stolen, it is a compliment.
3. No one can do what you do as well as you do it.
4. It takes time to follow-up on these situation. Do not let the person who stole from you online also steal so much time from you that you can’t accomplish the other things you need to do.
5. Be sure you have taken steps to avoid claims against you and your business, as well.
The following was shared by James L. McNish:
[This is general information for the benefit of all of the IB Digest list that may be interested in the subject. It is not legal advice about your specific situation.]
1. If your office has copiers or computers:
(a) learn what copying is legal and what is prohibited, and share
this information with your employees;
(b) adopt a company policy that unauthorized copying is prohibited, and advise
employees (preferably in writing) of the policy;
(c) post notices by photocopiers and computers.
2. If it is frequently important in your business to make copies from magazines, journals or books, there are organizations, such as the Copyright Clearance Center that can facilitate authorizations for you. Often this can be done for as little as three or four dollars per article
copied. Some businesses choose to negotiate a blanket license with the Copyright Clearance Center, allowing them to make unlimited copies for a single annual fee.
3. Take steps to assure that your employees understand when copying is allowed as a “fair use” of copyrighted material. If you do not know what is fair use, seek advice or obtain a publication discussing the issue.
http://www.lhl.lib.mo.us/pubserv/docserv/copyrght.htmIf you decide to copy sections of the United States Copyright Law, please see the following URL:
http://www.lhl.lib.mo.us/pubserv/docserv/copyrght.htmMini-Course In Copyright:
http://www.music.vt.edu/notes/1970years/1975/no3/copyright.htmlWords Have a Price:
http://199.233.193.1/cybereng/nyt/12-20-01.htmFair Use: Staying on the Right Side of the Copyright Law
http://www.welch.jhu.edu/publish/WLI/v.8.2/3.fairuse.html
C|Net Article:
<http://www.cnet.com/Content/Builder/Business/Law/index.html?st.tv.wb>
“A LIST APART” Discussion:
<http://www.zeldman.com/advanced/>
Browse the archives at:
<http://www.devshed.com/listapart/>.
Thread began at:
<http://www.devshed.com/listapart/issue.phtml?num=1.13> and continues for quite a bit.
There is a special issue dedicated to it at: <http://www.devshed.com/listapart/issue.phtml?num=1.15>
* Thank You To The Following People who contributed their knowledge within these three articles about “The Stealing Of Intellectual Property Online:”
Robert A. Huntsman, Bradley Bartz , Jack Yan, Geoffrey Gussis, Ronnie Gauthier ,Leslie Smyth, Jeffrey Baumgartner, Dana Blankenhorn, Jan Crowell, Russ Kelly, Paul Myers, Denise Stewart, Marilyn Strong, Brian Platz, Shari Thurow, Bruce M. Clay, Janis Rose, James L. McNish, Michael Richter, Aaron Zahrowski, Scott Temaat, Jeremy L. Miller, Yves Poirier, Sharon Tucci, Barb .A.Sybal, Nikki Sev Pilkington, Dee Power, and especially to the thief of my material and to ALL thieves out there. Because of you, the Internet small business community is a bit wiser.
Nancy
Your Networking Goddess
