This plugin by Angsuman Chakraborty, adds a copyright tag to your RSS and Atom feeds; just set it up, and forget about it. If you aren't a Wordpress user, the bottom line is that you want to include a direct copyright notification in your blog’s tag. Additionally, if you don’t want anyone to publish the full contents of your article without your permission, publish only the summary feed, instead of the full-text feed.
Personally, I’m only a limited fan of the summary feed idea, as long as your work is properly attributed. It really depends on how important it is for you to drive traffic back to your site. That being said, your publisher might look at this differently, in which case, the summary-feed is fantastic.
2. Defend your rights.
Invariably, your work will end up somewhere it doesn’t belong. Some fantastic ideas for keeping track of your work, and combating infringers came out of the Blogcritics discussion. To figure out where your work is being printed, you can put a unique quote from your work into the advanced search in Google or Yahoo, both on the subject line, and where it says: "articles that include this exact phrase" (thanks, Jet). You can also use Copyscape, which will work some search magic, based on your article's URL (thanks, Gem).
Instead of re-writing what has already been said better, check out ”What to Do When Someone Steals Your Content,” by Lorelle VanFossen. It is simply a profoundly useful document. As a lawyer I’m hard-wired to cringe when someone says we’re not needed, but, for the most part, I agree. It just takes time and determination to protect your rights. There are simply too many bloggers out there and in turn, too many sites reprinting material (with varying copyright restrictions), to get lawyers involved in every case.
I do think a lawyer is still a good idea if the infringement has caused you a financial loss. We lawyers tend to be good with the whole “damages” concept.
There’s also a totally philosophical element to all of this.
When we publish a blog that is in turn submitted to feeds, which in turn offer individuals the ability to receive real-time updates of what’s being written about the issues they care about as they’re published, we implicitly part with some of the rights that are traditionally associated with copyright. It can be argued that from the moment you allow your blog to ping any site, such as Technorati (which has a well written summary of their policy concerning works governed by the DMCA), et al., you inevitably lose the ability to control where your post ends up.
Article comments
1 - Bob MacKenzie
As a poet, writer of prose fiction, musician, and journalist, I've pretty much always been concerned about copyright.
I agree with much of what this article reports, and I agree philosophically with the concept of information being free. However, when this idea is misinterpreted, it hurts every communicator and artist.
Information is only that, information, and ideas are a dime a dozen. All of this should be freely distributed. Form is another matter.
If a writer's particular presentation of the information is used, then the writer should be credited for that and, in my opinion, paid for the use where there is money being made.
That's the real issue here. Anyone can have the information in my article, and can probbly find that information elsewhere. But if they take my actual article or some part of it, then I should always be given appropriate credit (and cash where possible).
2 - Howard Dratch
Terrific article about a suject of great importance in the digital age when images, words and ideas are presented in a manner so easy to appropriate.
It also just came up on my Yahoo Headlines widget as a featured news headline. Speaking of wide dissemination of ideas at a rapid pace.
3 - Matthew T. Sussman
Remember that episode of The Simpsons where Homer tries to protect his mound of sugar?
Same thing.
4 - Jet in Columbus
I will definately keep this in mind and thanks rich for tha attributing...
Written by “Jet in Columbus” © 2006 for Blogcritics.org
5 - Snarkattack
Thanks Rich - you didn't have to do that, but it just goes to show how much you're in the spirit of protecting intellectual property.
Alas, I do believe another infinitely more wise Blogcritic posted the link to our group a while back, I can't recall who it was, but we owe that person thanks.
Lorelle's article is great, isn't it? Very comprehensive. A real eye-opener too.
6 - diana hartman
I am pleased to tell you this article is being featured in the Culture Focus today, October 4th.
Diana Hartman
Culture Editor
7 - Rich Frankel
Thanks Diana, it was a wonderful treat to wake up to.