Sunday, October 5, 2008

Protecting YOUR Original Content

I've discussed possible infringements on the copyrights of others, but how can you make sure that your original content is not used by someone else? For example, what if you post an original short story to your MySpace page and the story is then used elsewhere?

Originality could be traced back to you through a digital paper trail, but it is important that when posting original content on the Web that you keep a log of when and what you post, to help maintain this trail. This can be done by archiving Web pages. All posting should also include a clear date. Posters of original content can also register a copyright for the material by going to the U.S. Copyright Office at www.copyright.com/register.

Miller, K. (2008). Copyright in a social world. MultiMedia & Internet@Schools, 15(3), 14-16. Retrieved September 16, 2008, from LISA database.

4 comments:

vbonnie said...

I'm thinking that there are a lot of us who wouldn't bother to log all of that information. So much "paperwork"! However, perhaps if I do something noteworthy I should definitely consider having it copyrighted next time!

Lorena said...

You just never know where things you say, write or do may find themselves and if it's valuable to you, the copyright option would be the way to go. (Even though, as Valerie mentioned,the logging and paperwork would really have to be worth it!) I even think of emails and how they get forwarded over and over again, or kids copying and pasting IM's to each other, someday even those issues may have to be included in all this!

Pam said...

I was unaware of the proceedure to protect electronic writings. If an author writes something that is of superb quality, than I would think that it would be worth it to keep all of the paperwork. For a comment like this one, naw!

~Nicole~ said...

I learned that if you post an original piece of writing or a song as your profile song, MySpace owes it because of the huge contract that you sign. So our friend Tom will be making money on your original song!