Just because something is on the internet it’s free for everyone isn’t it?
No it most certainly is not! Content on websites, photographs, audio and video resources all may be protected by copyright. Sure, some stuff is free but it’s usually made very clear that it is indeed free for you to use. Go ahead and knock yourself out with that material but beware of anything not labelled as free to use.
If you plan to use an article someone else has written you should either ask them first or at the very least, give credit and provide a link to the original. Do not pass it off as your own.
Photographs, audio and video can have different levels of credit – eg free to use with credit given; pay to use with credit given; do not copy; free or pay to use with other limitations and conditions. It is really worth reading any copyright information very carefully to ensure you aren’t breaching copyright in any way.
Then there is also the copyright breach known commonly as plagiarism. This is when someone copies a chunk of your website content and whacks it up on their own site claiming it as their own.
This has happened to me and I can tell you that it’s a very unpleasant feeling to discover it. Besides the fact that it’s highly unprofessional and a breach of copyright, it’s just downright rude! In most cases, an email pointing out the breach and request to immediately remove the content, yields results. However sometimes you do need to take it further in which case there is some great information here – The Association For the Protection of Internet Copyright
I now regularly use Copyscape to check my if any content on my website has been copied. Take this tool and use it well, it’s worth it!
