Copyright Infringement

Great points.

You made some very good points here Vic! This is why my work is entirely my own. I might refer to something I am reading or watching or reviewing, but I generally don't take the work out of context and pretend its something I created.

I find this section of the TOS to be quite interesting, and disturbing:

"You also hereby grant each user of the Service a non-exclusive license to access your Content through the Service, and to use, reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works of, display and perform such Content as permitted through the functionality of the Service and under the TOS. The foregoing license granted by you terminates once you remove or delete Content from the Service."

Currently all deleted content does not get removed from Gather's servers (EVER). Also, our content can still be accessed and used by others subsequent to our attempts to delete it. Therefore, these facts eliminate our ability to terminate the license we now grant to others by default.

Interesting Kevin, I didn't realize it is not actually removed.

There's a ton of copyrighted material on youtube. One gray area in particular is when users create videos dedicated to shows that they enjoy watching or even parodys. Good points in your article. There is a lot of material thats stolen from other users and posted under their name (stealers). Most of the time the original creators catch it and the thief takes it down, but still.

.....unless in your in the media. That's how the promotion machine works. We get sent press releases, etc. and it's our job to make them available to the public. Alot of interviews you see out there are not very original...have you ever wondered why? Because pretty much every new cd that comes out is promoted with a generic pre-wrote interview with that particular artists. As a journalist, you are permitted to take that interview and make it your own. Myself, I don't like doing that because it is nothing more than a puff piece. But, you have the permission to manipulate the interview to make it look like the interview was done by yourself - even though you did not write it. The same goes for alot of the stuff on youtube that I'll be sharing - it is stuff that is legal. If you go look at some music sites out there, you will see that it is becoming a big thing to embed youtube videos in the content of a page.

Wasn't it Dave Mathews who started the current trend to release music on the internet? I know there have been a lot of artists who do so just to get exposure. As for the media, you are given use of the material so that's not even an issue.

I very much appreciate that you made it clear that your article is based on your own opinions - I wish more people were as responsible.

I try my best to be responsible.

Does this mean that, if we post something original here, like our own writing looking for feedback, that we intend to market at some point, we are giving people the right to steal it?

I agree with your take on things. The attitude I've seen from many Gatherites and Gather itself seems ripe for a lawsuit, but, even if it wasn't, I wouldn't want to be part of something unethical, even if it were legal.

Here is "A 10 For You!"

Actually Stephanie, it would not be Gather who gets sued, but the user. The User agreement puts sole responsibility on the users for any copyright infringement.

This is very well said!!! I agree with you 100%

That was well said vic! My thought on it as well.

Really good points- I have never posted anything that wasn't mine, but I definitely did not give credit to the people in my photos...but I think you can draw the line of reason somewhere.

great article! if i use anything that is not my own i always state that it came from something else and give the source of where it came from! :)

You are correct!

Well Patricia, I must say I have had certain reservations about posting some of my creative works for those very reasons. I also don't like the ambiguous language in TOS about Gather's right to reproduce and distribute content submitted on the site.

On the other side of the coin, once you publish work on a website like this and someone does steal your work, you do have a good case if you catch them because the date you published said work is displayed. Now that part is just my opinion, I'm no lawyer.

I don't mind if someone copies one of my pieces of work for personal or informational use. I have no problem with that. What I don't want to see is someone stealing my work for financial gain or reproducing it without crediting me.

good article Vic. very interesting.

Well Vic, Gather ate my first comment so here goes again:

Thank you for being someone who understands this! I have (and others) have screamed the above until we are blue in the face and for some reason the people around here just don't understand it.

Also interestingly enough, some of the people whom I have caught posting copyrighted work have replied to this article expressing how much of a 'good and interesting' article this is. Hypocrites know no bounds.

Interesting If I copy something I try to put an address of where to find the whole article and who wrote it.

Thanks for sharing....a 10 4 u....

See i agree with all but that we are having montary gain from content. For the most part we make our gain from viewing it not posting it, actually gain would be a few cents. Not sure I count that as a gain. If you are on the cash you have to pay taxes on it and gift cards again mostly because of your clicks not what you post.

great article!

ALL your writing is 100% yours by National law. Even your grocery list.

Ghostly if you post it and some one clicks on it then you are making a profit from posting copyrighted material.

I don't see any reason to ever post anything that does not belong to you. it doesn't take much to make a profit at this site, i earn enough every month to be offered the cash option and its all on original material. and you will not see point whore as any of my tags. all you have to do it be original and the points will come

"See i agree with all but that we are having montary gain from content. For the most part we make our gain from viewing it not posting it, actually gain would be a few cents. Not sure I count that as a gain. If you are on the cash you have to pay taxes on it and gift cards again mostly because of your clicks not what you post."

Even a small gain is a gain. Any profit, even a penny, from someone else's work without permission is wrong. There are times I'm not even on the site, yet my points increase from people viewing my stuff. That is profiting.

Your neighbor borrows a screwdriver and uses it, no big deal, right? Well you never say anything so he starts borrowing more. Then other neighbors start helping themselves. Soon your garage is empty. Now would you be mad?

Great article, Vic. And I am surprised by Kevin's input too.

I have only posted things that I photographed or typed up myself.

It's not just the pennies earned by someone else. A lot of times when someone steals something, they claim they created it or at least they don't give credit to whomever they got it from (which would be admitting to stealing it). When a person creates something that is good, they are very proud of it. Someone stealing it and not giving the creator credit is ...... I'm not sure how to put that, but anyone who's written/photographed/created a fine piece of work would understand.

good article --- I'm glad I read it because I could have sworn I saw someone say somewhere that we can post youtube stuff....and I was just gonna do that! Yikes!

It annoys me when I see things on Gather that are obvious cut & paste jobs, with not a lick of their own words or pics. It's not like you have to be an incredible writer, to do well on Gather. Fluff stuff often seems to get more feedback than carefully thought out works.

I agree Robin and I see a lot of copy and paste or even links to articles that say "what do you think?" It's refreshing to see actual articles, photos and videos submitted by the people who wrote them or took them.

As long as it is properly credited and quoted I think it should be okay... just like in term papers in school. It is the right thing to do

Hi, very good article! I see you started posting more! Sorry I missed your posts earlier.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

thanks for sharing

Very good article. Lots of good points!

Good article, Vic! I was one of the naive ones when I first joined Gather, and unfortunately was a victum of copyright infringement for the purpose of making a profit by selling my photo on another website. (You can read about it in my articles posted in Feb)

I'm sorry to hear that Sue, but I'm glad they got rid of the offender.

well said I have heard of others having their work "stolen" from here in the past and had it show up elsewhere on the net. I didn't read through everyone elses comments, but has anyone else heard about this happening?

This is one of those hot button topics.

Well written piece, and so are many of the comments. Sounds like a good Rule of Thumb to me. Your daughter is going to mature into a well-rounded, responsible adult, if she follows your guidance.

Gather's perspective, unless it's changed, is that any monetary gain is solely for activity on its site and not for anything specific that I post. I asked them once, because I was concerned that, if I published something here that I might later enter in a contest or submit for publishing where the requirements were that I be an 'amateur', receiving money from Gather would place me in a category of 'professional' since I'd received money (or the equivalent thereof). Their response to me made sense.

I agree with you

Great thread here great article fab response

Excellent points! :)

I just came across something the other day that did not sound original. Copy and paste part of it into Google...voila! Up it comes from another site and author. Note to self: avoid that person!

From someone who kinda creeps inthe background here on gather...I am amazed at the amout of cut copy pasteing...that garners such avid attention...
I am an amature everything...have only a few reall good connections who visit my posts..but I will never understand why people need to infringe or steal others work....or for that matter take so much joy in bashing an original piece or pic...
isnt part of copy wright law based on percentages? Like music...there has to be a certain count of like notes for it to be deemed infringement....and you have to be claiming it as your own work..for the sole purpose of profit....
ehh to late for me to be thinking...

10 for you!! Only post your own work, and you don't have to worry about infringing on others' copyright!

Lou Anne, copyright is NOT based on percentages. Go to www.copyright.gov and try to find an allowable percentage.

You don't have to claim the work as your own to violate copyright - that would be "plagiarism," which is a form of copyright violation. But crediting the originator of the work, then reproducing it in any form on your own terms, may still be a violation of copyright law.

Fair use is a DEFENSE. It is not a right, or a prescription for using others' work. It is a limited defense to a charge of copyright violation. Fair use allows LIMITED use of someone else's work for critique (e.g., a book review or critique), parody (e.g., Saturday Night Live, Mad Magazine), or educational purposes (properly cited quotations in a teacher's handout or a student's term paper). Fair use may include commercial use, but if the copyrighted material is the basis for the profits you make from your use, it can detract from the fair use argument. (This is where "percentages" might be looked at. For example, a book reviewer can fairly quote from the original work, but cannot reproduce huge chunks of it or reveal the ending with impugnity. The critique needs to comprise the bulk of the review.)

You cannot safely paraphrase, either, or write a story "based on" someone else's work. (Here's where it gets hairy - an IDEA cannot be copyrighted. But don't write a version of the Cinderella story and include a cat named Lucifer, some talking mice, singing birds... because at that point, it's not a story based on the public domain "Cinderella," but a "derivative work" based on the Disney movie.) Remember: IDEAS CANNOT BE COPYRIGHTED. Don't whine that "so-and-so STOLE my idea!" No such thing under the law. There are only so many plots in the world.

For the artists out there: You cannot make a painting of a photo without the photographer's permission. You could make a painting of the same scene, though. You cannot take someone else's work and "photomanipulate" it in Photoshop or whatever without the originator's consent. (Deviantart.com is a good source for free stock images, but be sure to read the rights granted by individual artists, writers, and photographers.)

For the photographers: You cannot take a photo of a copyrighted painting and use it without the artist's permission.

well stated