Earlier this week a Facebook status existed on the issue of bloggers using copyrighted material without permission of the copyright holder. In the case of that status the copyright holder had a bit of trouble with a blogger who used maps on their blog without asking permission.
This prompted some thoughtful internal discussion on my end. Some information was missing such as who the blogger is, how did they use the maps, did they try to get permission (was it denied), are they making money from the maps, etc etc.
Digging into the topic revealed some answers, which led to discussion between myself and another blogger. We spent most of our conversation feeling out where we stand on the issue. The blogger I spoke with said their first thought would not have been to contact the copyright holder. They would credit the maps, provide links to the content, and leave it as such.
This is a tricky subject, which I do not claim to have any legal training, expertise, or formal experience with. I don’t have the answers here. But, I do know what I do.
My gut has always been to give credit where credit is due. Referencing my days in college writing papers, doing research, and citing sources I realized there are numerous ways to do this. How should amateur blogs be treated? Are they a hobby? Are they journalistic? Are they like a term paper?
I try to rely on the AP Stylebook, Chicago Manual of Style, and APA Style guide. The AP Stylebook is the Holy Bible for journalists making it a natural choice. The other two are most familiar to me from using them for my politics and history writings at college. They may not be perfect but they give suggestions.
What if you want to go beyond that and use someone’s intellectual property? I highly recommend getting in touch with the copyright holder. Explain to them specifically what you wish to use and how you wish to use it. Larger entities such as Games Workshop state online how you can use their intellectual property (see Legal: What you can and can’t do with Games Workshop’s intellectual property).
Not everyone who made something you wish to use makes it so easy to see how you can use their works. Most will have a statement on their website. Battlegames Magazine has a blurb in the left side of their website addressing the issue. It says:
At the bottom of this very blog is a statement that says “This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.”
Contacting the copyright holder is highly beneficial. I’ve had great luck receiving permission. If you receive permission get it in writing. This covers you in case there is any doubt. You may even want to contact your web host, I do, with the information. Doing this has protected me a few times from potential shut downs. The other great thing is even if you don’t receive permission at least the copyright holder knows you’re being responsible. In time they may visit your blog. If they like what you’re doing they may change their mind.
In the event that you don’t receive permission to use copyrighted material you should consider two things. The first is you need to respect the copyright. Failure to do so can land you in legal trouble. The other is in the United States the U.S. Copyright Office has a Fair Use section. It is possible that you could use the copyrighted material and be protected under Fair Use. Be warned that determining what is actually “fair” is highly subjective.
In general bloggers should:
1) Adhere to all applicable copyright laws
2) Ask the copyright holder for permission to use the protected material
3) Respect and abide by all stipulations for use
4) Consider Fair Use, if in the United States, when using material
5) Always properly credit what you’re using and link to, or explain how to get to, the original
6) Abide all legal take down notices from the copyright holders
7) When in doubt consult a lawyer with copyright expertise
For further reading check out the Electronic Frontier Organization’s Blogger’s Legal Guide on intellectual property and BloggingTips.com’s 5 Copyright Facts Every Blogger Should Know.
