Copyright: A Quick Guide to Playing Nice With Others

Death, taxes, and copyright: It seems that if you publish--whether in print or on the web--sooner or later you're bound to run into concerns related to copyright and the legal rights of creative content and intellectual property. If you maintain a blog, you might well find yourself having to negotiate these issues from both sides; bloggers that provide information from other sources have the legal and ethical responsibility to respect the rights of their sources, while those who publish original content often find themselves in the unfortunate position of having to defend their work from unauthorized use.

As a teacher with a professional background in communications--one who also happens to spend a great deal of time and resources on creative pursuits--I've been over this road a LOT. Plagiarism is reaching epidemic levels on college campuses, and a troubling consequence of this behavior is that students often carry their sloppy habits into the workplace where they can result in liability exposure for their employers. As a photographer, I've had to confront infringing uses of my work ranging from relatively innocent appropriations by individuals, to un-compensated commercial use and blatant attempts at copyright grabs by media companies. These concerns resurfaced recently, when I discovered that material on this very blog had been used without my knowledge or permission. Not surprisingly, this leaves me more than just a little sensitive to the whole issue, and to the ongoing need for simple, plain-English do's and don'ts on avoiding copyright infringement.

So... what follows here are my own brief guidelines. I generally address things I've got experience with, so this should NOT be assumed to be comprehensive, and I urge you to investigate the additional resources at the end of this post for more information. Finally, this blog post does not constitute legal advice; if you have specific concerns, consult an attorney.

Q. I just found a really cool picture/article on the web! Can I use it on my own blog/website/newsletter?
A. Not without permission. Doing so constitutes copyright infringement.

Q. But when someone posts a picture they made on the web, doesn't that put it into the public domain?
A. No--it's really no different from the owner publishing their picture in a book or magazine. Unless the copyright expires, or unless the owner explicitly puts the work into the public domain, the work should be assumed to be copyrighted, and that the owner holds the exclusive rights for publication and republication. (1)

Q. Don't you have to register a copyright for it to be valid?
A. No. Registration provides for the award of statutory damages in infringement lawsuits, but it is NOT necessary to claim ownership. According to the Berne Convention (which the United States adhered to in 1989), a copyright is automatically granted as soon as a work is "fixed" in some medium. (2)

Q. Okay, but what if there's no copyright notice on the website?
A. The use of a copyright notice is no longer required under U.S. law. (3)

Q. Can't I just go ahead and use the item as long as I credit the author/photographer?
A. No. Acknowledging the source of copyrighted material is not a substitute for permission.

Q. What if I can't find the owner, or the owner doesn't respond and I'm on a deadline? Can I use the item anyway?
A. You still cannot use the item without the owner's permission. Be prepared for the process of securing permission to take time, and plan alternative material if you can't locate the owner. A lack of response to your inquiry does NOT entitle you to unauthorized use.

Q. If I represent a non-profit organization, or my intended use is non-commercial, do I still have to secure permission, even if the owner insists on payment?
A. If the copyright owner requires compensation, you must comply or you can't use the item. Non-profit and non-commercial use of a copyrighted work are not exempt.

Q. What if I found the item on a personal blog, or on a personal profile such as on Facebook?
A. It doesn't matter whether the item was found on a commercial or personal site. If you don't own the copyright, you can't use it without permission.

Q. What if I hot-link to the item instead of copying it?
A. The law is still unclear as to the legality of hot-linking copyrighted material. However, in addition to potential legal liability, hot-links consume bandwidth on the hosting server and should be avoided without permission.

Q. But isn't what I'm doing considered to be fair use?
A. Not necessarily. "Fair use" doctrine allows only limited use of copyrighted works without the owner's permission. Acording to the 1961 Report of the Register of Copyrights on the General Revision of the U.S. Copyright Law, certain uses are allowed:

...quotation of excerpts in a review or criticism for purposes of illustration or comment; quotation of short passages in a scholarly or technical work, for illustration or clarification of the author’s observations; use in a parody of some of the content of the work parodied; summary of an address or article, with brief quotations, in a news report; reproduction by a library of a portion of a work to replace part of a damaged copy; reproduction by a teacher or student of a small part of a work to illustrate a lesson; reproduction of a work in legislative or judicial proceedings or reports; incidental and fortuitous reproduction, in a newsreel or broadcast, of a work located in the scene of an event being reported. (4)

Q. I created the photo/article. Might I still have to seek permission to use or republish it?
A. Possibly, if you transferred or licensed the copyright in the same work to someone else.

Q. I didn't know any of this when I "borrowed" the work. Am I still held responsible for infringement?
A. Absolutely. In the United States, ignorance of the law is NEVER considered a defense for violating it.

Q. Honestly, I don't see what all the fuss is about--the writer/photographer should be flattered that I want to use this item. And besides, how will they know?
A. Creators of original works, whether professional or amateur, are entitled by law to control the use and distribution of those works. In some cases, the unauthorized use of a person's work can have a detrimental impact on the potential market value of other work they create. Furthermore, doing so is a violation of the ethics of professional journalism, and can expose the infringer and his/her organization to civil (and in some cases, criminal) liability. Finally, one should NEVER anticipate that an infringement will escape detection, as tools are widely available for locating and identifying potentially infringing uses of copyrighted material.

In a nutshell, be aware of your responsibilities under copyright law. Know how to legally and appropriately use material created by others. And if you choose to infringe on others' rights, don't assume you won't get caught.


Additional resources:

U.S. Copyright Office

Stanford University Libraries: Copyright and Fair Use

Associated Press Stylebook (subscription may be required)



(1) Michelle L Devon, 2009. Copyright Infringement and Web Content. suite101.com Online Web Resources. Retrieved October 21, 2009 from http://onlinepublishingresources.suite101.com/article.cfm/copyright_infringement_and_web_content .

(2) Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works. World Intellectual Property Organization. Retrieved October 21, 2009 from http://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/ip/berne/trtdocs_wo001.html .

(3) Copyright Basics. U.S. Copyright Office. Retrieved October 21, 2009 from http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.pdf .

(4) Fair use. U.S. Copyright Office. Retrieved October 21, 2009 from http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html .

Pic of the day: Frustration

Well, my little project (or resolution, or whatever it is) has turned out to be at least a little frustrating. To recap, my original intention was to take and post a photo each day from my cell phone. The idea was to make this sort of a photo-autobiography in the sense that these would be images from my environment. The problem, unfortunately, has been that my cellphone camera seems to be very limited in what sort of conditions it can get a decent (by my standards) photo.

Take, for example, yesterday's F-104 photo. I've discovered that the cellphone handles photos best when there's plenty of light. But it seems like too much of it (in this case, the highlight off the plane's canopy) tends to blow out the white point and lead to the really weird color balance you can see in the photo. For purposes of comparison, here's a unedited shot I took at the same time using a Canon Powershot SD750 (click the photo for a larger version):

While this photo isn't perfect, it does reveal the limitations in my original cellphone photo. The hues are more accurate, and whites appear to be rendered a little more nicely. I get the opposite problem with low-light photos: I don't know if any cellphones include a flash, since (I would think, anyway) that would be a HUGE drain on the battery, so the camera's software has to compensate by increasing the exposure time (leading to blurs), or the ISO (which gives you graininess). Argh.

So... I suppose I have to decide whether to continue doing this according to my original plan regardless of the usually crappy photo quality, or to free myself to use whatever camera I happen to feel like using. Time will tell, I guess, but I'm going to violate my own rules today for this image, which I simply could not have gotten with the phone:

Eeek! Bones! A little backyard paleontology here... we've been taking out a deck that's falling apart in places and needs to be replaced with a small garage-type building. While pulling up some supports, I spotted these bones and thought I'd share them. My guess is they're rat bones (and yes, mom... I washed my hands afterwards), but I'm surprised I found them before the dogs did. This image was also useful, since it helped me discover that you can actually take something approaching a macro photo using a little point-and-shoot. Just zoom way out, back up a foot or two (like you would if you're doing this with an SLR and a long lens), and take several shots so that you've got a decent chance of getting the focus right. Cool.

Saying goodbye

It's weird to be writing a eulogy for a pet who wasn't even mine, but P.C. was just that kind of cat.

He showed up on day, about ten years ago, in the gutter across the street from my parents' house. Just lying there. I thought it looked odd so I walked out to the fence for a closer look. When I realized that the cat over there was alive and was headed my way across the street, I jogged over to check it out. What I found was a scrawny, dirty-white kitten, half Siamese and half tabby, and oozing from a puncture in his front leg. He was friendly, though, so I carried him back over to show my mom. She had been musing about getting a cat while her two dogs were still pups, but Hudson (a.k.a. the Gold-Plated Dog) had just been through his second surgery in as many months, and mom's predictable reaction was something about putting the vet's kids through Ivy League educations, so no--no cats. I looked at the purring trainwreck in my hands, and dug for the most manipulative cheap-shot I could come up with. "Okay, then, but I'd better take this guy to the pound so they can at least put him out of his misery, because he's not gonna last with his leg abscessed like it is."

"Oh, just take him to the vet and have them bill me!" she groaned, exasperated. So I grabbed my car keys and bolted off before she could change her mind. The vet shaved the kitten's leg, managed to clean it out without debridement (which would have meant one more surgery on the bill), got the fleas off him, and sent him home within two hours. He sat on the seat next to me, purring all the way.

Soon named P.C. by my mom (short for "Plain Cat," though he earned several less-printable nicknames over his tenure there), this little guy took a short look around my parents' house, declared it his kingdom, and never looked back. He remained on the small side, but put on weight as he developed into a stocky, muscular adult. As his fur filled in it provided the perfect contrast to the most dazzling blue eyes I'd ever seen on a cat. Dogs, people... he held everyone in his sway. Snickers and Hudson (my parents' Springer Spaniels), both over 55 pounds, were reduced to chew toys and wrestling partners. My own dog avoided eye contact most of the time, as he never quite knew what to do when a cat chased HIM. When visitors came over, they were greeted at the door and marveled at this gorgeous, outgoing cat who would turn into a ragdoll in your arms, craning his head backward for an upside-down look at the world. And even as I became more and more allergic to cats in recent years, I'd load up on antihistamines before I'd visit, knowing full well I wouldn't be able to resist petting, playing, or occasionally napping with their little bruiser.

On December 26th, P.C. left us as abruptly he arrived. My mom noticed he hadn't been around for a while and went looking, finding him motionless on their bedroom floor. He hadn't been sick, hadn't been injured, and was only ten years old. I was stunned by my dad's phone call, and I'm sure it's going to be difficult when I go over next. While it's sad to lose P.C. so soon, though, I can't help but smile remembering how much fun it was to know him.

Take care short cat... and wherever you are, don't bite the dogs in the face, okay?

Computers: Tools, or tyrants?

Hmm. This post by my twitter friend Maria Langer has got me thinking about the lure of the computer, the internet, and their ability to infiltrate every waking moment in a geek's life--not always for the better.

I don't watch TV, to speak of. Yes, I'll turn it on once or twice a week during football season, partially because I'm a rabid UCLA fan, but also because I just like watching the game. Occasionally, I'll watch a movie, but this is on the order of about once a month or two. But mostly, the TV stays off, and I'm glad my life isn't ruled by what's on during primetime. Unfortunately--and I'm being completely honest here--I don't have the same self-control when it comes to my computer, smartphone, and iPod. I'm a gadget geek to logarithmic proportions, and I know full well that those can have the same frustrating effects on life and productivity.

For those of us who fight ADD and its related impulses, the computer is both friend and foe. It's obviously a useful tool, and since I'm big on integrating technology into my classes, I am forced to spend a lot of time in front of the keyboard. The geek in me doesn't begrudge that one bit, since I enjoy tinkering, learning, and keeping up on networking trends (lately, the uses and misuses of social media) is informative and fun. The problem, I think, is that in my business, the lines between work and the kind of play that intrigues me are so blurry as to be indistinguishable. When I surf around to people's blogs on barcamp and Startup Weekend, am I working or goofing off? Both, it seems, and because of that, it's damned difficult to set limits on either one. What do I miss as a result? Well, time to exercise, housework, practice, walk with the dogs, etc. I do all those things (well, most of them... housework has a tendency to drop off the priority list a lot), but I'm sure I don't get to them as soon as I should.

What's the solution? Well, I don't know... I think Maria's computer-less days might be one way to de-tox. Putting myself on a strict schedule is probably going to be a must, since one reality of my work is that I have to be reachable for at least a while each day. Since I tend to abhor structure (but secretly need it), scheduling is likely to be an interesting exercise. Anyone have suggestions for making it work?

Meanwhile, I'll try shutting the computer down when I leave my office in the next hour and leaving it in my bag until, say, 10pm. After that I make no promises, but I'll see what I can do. Wish me luck!

Rest in Peace

Lots of sad news this week: Wednesday, we learned that a wonderful musician and friend, drummer Steve Sykes, passed away Monday after a rough struggle with cancer. Steve was a tremendously musical player, and his creativity on the drums put him on a short list of guys to call for small-combo gigs. He was a really sweet guy to boot, and devoted to his family. He will definitely be missed.

On the heels of that news (literally, that evening), I was had been shaken awake by the small earthquake we had the other night, and on a whim I looked up the website of magazine where one of my scuba industry colleagues was the associate publisher. There, I learned that another old friend, Shawn Beaty, had been killed in a house fire in 2005. I had worked with Shawn and her husband Jerry at two different companies while they were manufacturers' representatives, and although I didn't keep in touch very closely after I left the industry, I knew that they had joined the Dive Training organization and were doing very well. Making matters infinitely worse was the further revelation that this appears not to have been an accident; it seems that her death has been ruled a homicide, but no arrests had been made and authorities have no solid leads. Having known Jerry and Shawn well for several years, I can't even imagine what dealing with this has been like for him... to lose a spouse like that must be indescribable. Inept as I am about stuff like this, I'm stuck wondering whether to get in touch, or what I would say if I did. I don't know if there's anything meaningful I could say at all.

With all this fresh in my mind, the bizarre double-murder/suicide that took place a few blocks away (I was headed off to a rehearsal just as the neighborhood was being besieged with police and the media) was just enough to make me think, WTF? Maybe it's that I live a somewhat insulated existence the rest of the time, but geez... It also has me on a bit of a self-reproach jag; I wonder if I really do deserve to have such a satisfying life when people around me are suffering. I know it's an irrational line of thought, but all this is really pretty weird. Not sure what else to do except not take life for granted.

Sigh.