Most bloggers invite you to share their content far and wide on any one of many aggregation sites. But some people get really upset if you post that article on your own aggregation blog (even with full credit and back links).
I am always amazed when I get that proverbial chest pumping quasi-barrister “cease and desist” letter, followed by remedial citation of copyright law, and always ending with some pathetic accusation of irreparable damages and criminal violation. They get upset if you change the content and they get upset if you don’t. The worst is when it comes from a self-proclaimed social media guru who touts the social media Cool Aid in their consultancy propaganda.
Reality Check:
1. Ummm…nobody is an island in SM, you get the ideas from someone else.
2. If you are pissed off – this means that you have nothing else to offer.
3. Social media is a conversation – you have no claim to my response.
4. So you think you are better than Wikipedia?
5. Maybe your content is not so great – just convenient.
6. Your feed is public, your content is public.
7. If you’re not giving it away – lock it up.
8. Implied Copyright? Go ahead, sue someone.
Regarding our own content, If I feel that I earned the right to request that my loyal readers expend their valuable time to “share” my stuff across their hard earned social networks ( TWT, MS, FB, LI), then I have no right to tell them how to share it. They have the right, without the obligation, to share whatever, wherever, and however they want (with full credit and back links, of course).
To those who participate with others in this great journey – we will bend over backwards to help you along in any way we can now or any time in the future. Give us a call next time you’re in Seattle. Need a contact or referral in LI? A Book review? PR shout out? Let us know, we’re on your team. Thank you.
David Meerman Scott says provides qualified research that demonstrates how authors that offer free downloads of their whitepapers and books (with the minimum of barriers), enjoy readership success increases several orders of magnitude over restricted content.
The moral of this story is give, give, give, and the magic of social media will return your royalties- otherwise, thanks for the C&D letter – now I can delete you from my blog, social network, and corporate referral list – with full credit and back links, of course.
By the way, our research would cost millions to reproduce – all of it is committed to the public domain through Creative Commons. Go ahead, take it – it’s yours (apply full credit and back links, of course).
|
About Dan: Dan Robles is the Director of The Ingenesist Project, a private think tank in Seattle that predicts and specifies elements of the next economic paradigm as built on a platform of social media. Mr. Robles helps organizations identify future disruptions to their existing strategies and assists in implementing ways to exploit or evade such disruptions. His clients are mostly from the aerospace, higher education, finance, and diverse corporate marketing concerns. to learn more about Dan go here http://www.ingenesist.com/slide-show |



{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
RT@JDeragon Intellectual Property In Bloggerville: Most bloggers invite you to share their content far and wide on … http://bit.ly/7eIRe7
Intellectual Property In Bloggerville http://bit.ly/7tck72 #news #socialmedia
Intellectual Property In Bloggerville http://bit.ly/60e0ij #news #socialmedia
Intellectual Property In Bloggerville http://tinyurl.com/ycyh6do #socialmedia #news
RelationshipEcon: Intellectual Property In Bloggerville: Most bloggers invite you to share their content far and wi… http://bit.ly/5sms6A
Intellectual Property In Bloggerville: Most bloggers invite you to share their content far and wide on any one of m… http://bit.ly/5sms6A
Intellectual Property In Bloggerville http://bit.ly/7m3p7V
Intellectual Property In Bloggerville:
Most bloggers invite you to share their content far and wid.. http://bit.ly/7m3p7V
RT@JDeragon
Intellectual Property In Bloggerville: Most bloggers invite you to share their content far and wide on any one of m… http://bit.ly/5sms6A
I think you are making light of a very serious issue — not the SM gurus — but the distribution of proprietary property without regard to law, property rights or even courtesy.
For people who do make money off of this stuff — like graphic designers — just showing samples of their work on a website can prompt wholesale rip-off of their livelihood. It’s difficult to “lock it up” when you are showing your work to viable clients, and it is impossible to protect otherwise.
There have been other cases when sensitive comapny information gets out and goes viral. It is getting increasingly difficult to “lock up” information these days with universal access to free, immediate global distribution channels. If something gets out and company asks you to stop spreading it, do you really think they’re pissed because they have nothing better to do?
Much has been said of the “free” economy but there is a very dark side that you are glossing over here. It’s just not as simple or cut-and-dry as you position it to be.
Sorry to be negative, but this is such a vital topic to the digital economy and I guess I’m passionate about it. I understand the point you’re trying to make but think it is too simplistic of a view regarding an immensely complicated subject.
If somebody has LEGITIMATE proprietary claim to intellectual property and they send you a legal document asking you to stop, are you really suggesting that it si OK to ignore it?
Mark;
Thanks for the comment. I am familiar with both sides of the argument and empathize with everyone struggling to make a living.
The article is a reality check limited to bloggers but your expansion is certainly a worthy discussion. Yes it is a well worn issue with many facets and I certainly agree that the web should monetize, but I am not certain that monetization will arise in form of a cat and mouse game under a fictional government statute. Have you priced an IP challenge lately? Demonetization is a better description of what we have before us.
While unsettling, the truth is that if you can’t lock it up, then you can’t lock it up. If I drop hundred dollar bills behind me wherever I go, regardless of law, property rights, technology, or courtesy, I maintain an expectation of finding them when I return. That not how reality works.
It is also apparent that many people use technology that enables them to distribute their work to their clients all over the world for free. This is the same technology that allows them to expose their minds to the art collections of the world, scan global headlines minutes old, witness what others are doing, collect data, visualize trends, and make inferences from which they “manufacture” their blog post – for free. This is pure tax-free “profit” that everyone enjoys but nobody wants to pay for. Yes, of course we all wish we can click dollars like throwing darts at arcade balloons, but that is not an accurate view of reality.
I have never ignored a C&D and, in fact, have received very few comparable to the millions of dollars of my research that I have committed to the public domain. I do, however, have every right to challenge people who free ride the coat tails of the brilliant and generous minds that came before them without acknowledgment.
To those who simply recognize this simple reality – I will go to the end of the earth to share everything I know and help them in any way I can because others have done this for me. That is the currency that I trade in, that’s how I pay my bills, and that is the point of my post.
Dan Robles´s last blog ..Thank You for Flying Citizen Airlines, LLC
RT @JDeragon: Consider this:: Intellectual Property In Bloggerville http://www.relationship-economy.com/?p=7513
Intellectual Property In Bloggerville /The Relationship Economy……/ – Most bloggers invite you to share … http://tinyurl.com/y8ttxof
Intellectual Property In Bloggerville – #socialmedia #blog – http://ow.ly/OZoj
{ 14 trackbacks }