Do You Make These 5 Common Copyright Mistakes on Your Blog?

Photo Credit: Blogging Research Wordle by Kristina B. used under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Photo Credit: Blogging Research Wordle by Kristina B. used under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Blogs are well-known for routinely violating common copyright laws.

Not only is it, well, illegal, but it also presents some major branding and reputation issues, as well.

Savvy readers, for one, can identify when a blog is using copyrighted information without permission.

And it doesn’t bode well for your reputation! If you want to be recognized as a true professional in your field, then you need to give credit where credit is due.  Let’s not forget about the ethical factor too, here. Freelancing is a community and we’re all in this together. Do your comrades a favor and give them credit for their hard work. I’m sure you would want them to do the same for you.

That being said, whether blogging is your business, or just a small piece of the bigger puzzle, it’s important that you do it right. Copyright infringement is no joke, so you don’t want to take any chances. You don’t have to be an attorney to understand copyright law and your blog, but it is essential that you do your homework to appreciate the basics. This will keep you out of hot water with the law and protect your quality reputation.

For starters, make sure you’re not making any of these 5 common copyright mistakes in your blog. And if you are, now’s the time to fix them!

Mistake #1 – You ignore the law in the first place!

First of all, most bloggers completely ignore the law altogether. Continue reading Do You Make These 5 Common Copyright Mistakes on Your Blog?

The Media File that Could: Why Obtaining Full Copyright and Intellectual Property Ownership Matters

Your mother may have told you that sharing is caring, but sharing isn’t always caring when it comes to copyright and intellectual property law.

With the growing popularity of social media platforms, people are sharing images more than ever.

Unfortunately for the creators of the shared media files, few people understand that they are violating copyright law when they upload and post creative work without the authorization of the creator.

Sharing Isn’t Always Caring

One needs only log into Pinterest to find numerous copyrighted images that others have “pinned” or uploaded to the Pinterest website without permission from the image’s owner.

Innocent though it may seem, every time an image is shared without the creator’s permission, a blogger, artist, photographer or graphic designer loses credit for her work and possible income that she could have generated from that work.

This proliferation of copyright infringement can understandably leave a creative feeling a bit down and discouraged.

After experiencing infringement of her work, a freelancer may even wonder whether she can continue to make a profit when her time and hard work easily become mute at the hands of copyright infringers.

After all, a creative can easily put in hours, if not weeks, of thought, work, and editing into a single creative work.

That photo, logo, or written content represents the freelancer’s professional image, work ethic, and indeed, livelihood. Nobody knows better than a freelancer that the widespread violation of an artist’s work equates to theft.

Creating the Media File that Could: How to Protect Your Work

Creatives may feel like they are constantly fighting an uphill battle against technology and social media. But Continue reading The Media File that Could: Why Obtaining Full Copyright and Intellectual Property Ownership Matters