Blogs and Copyright - Final Answer

In July 2009, I traveled to Charleston, South Carolina to visit my cousin for a week. My favorite author, Dorthea Benton Frank, just released her new book, “Return to Sullivan’s Island.” The heroine of the story, Beth, had just completed her college degree in journalism. She went back to Sullivan’s Island to live for one year while her mother went to Paris to teach. As the conversation of Beth putting her life on hold took place she mentioned she might “blog” while in South Carolina. To Beth, this would be a good way to hone her journalistic skills. Her eccentric old aunt that was leaving for California said, “Are you crazy? People will steal your thoughts!”


This statement caught my attention. I have never thought about blogging or other types of Internet communication as vulnerable to theft. As part of the Multimedia frameworks I am required to teach about Copyright laws. One part of Copyright law is specific: once that thought is completed on paper, the writer has a copyright to it. Do we really have that security?


I have heard on the news about people being fired from jobs for what they have said in blogs, on Facebook, and MySpace. Personally, I have always thought, “Way to Go, STUPID!" I can't believe someone would talk negatively about their job in this type of forum and I never gave a thought to a thief of words. It truly does make sense in today’s world. Most people, especially students, don’t comprehend plagiarism and its seriousness.


Anyone stealing someone else’s work is irritating to me. After much contemplation and researching I think I understand why it strikes my nerves. I don’t really consider myself important enough to have my thoughts taken away by a hacker or plagiarizer because they probably wouldn’t be interested in my opinion. However, I have worked very hard to obtain my education. It is sometimes difficult to gather the thoughts and research while giving them a place in the context of assignments. I have done many projects behind the scenes because of my inability to say no and others have taken the credit.


Evidently it bothers me more than I think because I am writing about the subject. Another aspect to look at…some of the postings on blogs are very personal to people. They have taken a risk and laid their life before us. I can see some of their personal issues being turned into a book. Some of the blogs I am currently reading hold my attention without fail and would make a wonderful work for a good book.


I really don’t understand the whole blogging concept unless the author wants someone to read, critique, and comment on it. I know I have become caught up in “blog-o-mania” and find myself blogging constantly. If one’s work is to be that confidential why start a blog? An electronic journal would be the same thing and it could be kept on the personal hard drive of the computer or a flash drive.


I was once told in a workshop the mark of a good teacher is they will share everything they know without fear. I don’t mind sharing; I don’t mind constructive criticism; and I certainly don’t mind mechanic correction, but ask me for the information and I will gladly give it with a promise of credit in return.


In writing on this subject I drew on previous knowledge about Copyright laws. I also completed new research on the subject because the concept of blogging creates a whole new realm of copyrighting. I found an article at http://www.problogger.net/archives/2009/02/08/how-to-defend-your-blogs-copyright, which shows the violation of Copyright is still an issue. It also outlines ways to protect your blog. A free licensing web site www.creativecommons.org will let you create a little license symbol in HTML for you to place within your blog. Of course, there are various settings within the blog site to set to help protect your work. Not that either stops someone from stealing thoughts but it gives the writer a little more copyright infringement rights.