photo by MikeBlogs
Copyright infringement (or copyright violation) is the unauthorized use of material that is covered by copyright law, in a manner that violates one of the copyright owner’s exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works.
— Copyright infringement, from Wikipedia
Plagiarism is not only the mere copying of text, but also the presentation of another’s ideas as one’s own, regardless of the specific words or constructs used to express that idea.
Both plagiarism and copyright infringement are stealing. When someone writes something and publishes it, that person automatically owns all the rights to re-use that material in any way. No one else has a right to take it and use it, unless the original copyright owner allows them to do so.
EVERYTHING on the Internet is copyrighted, automatically. You cannot copy something from another person’s blog or webpage, unless you first get permission from that person. No matter how much you like it, to copy it would be stealing. What you CAN do is link to the article you like, telling people how good it is and recommending they read it.
For More Information
- I Love Your List! I’m Going To Copy It!
Why copying hurts both you and the blogger that you copy from.
- Copyright Law: 12 Dos and Don’ts
A quick summary of how copyright law applies to bloggers.
- What Do You Do When Someone Steals Your Content
It happens to everyone. Here’s how you can fight back.
November 19th, 2010 at 8:01 am
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November 6th, 2012 at 9:15 am
[...] you are posting photos that don’t belong to you, remember that you have to be careful about copyrights. Make sure the photographer has released the photos for general use, and remember to give [...]