Tuesday, June 23. 2009

Off Topic: Teach New/Junior Marketing Folks about Copyright, Fair Use, Creative Commons...

It's been a stressful day. I got an e-mail from a "social media administrator" informing me that article I wrote was "added" to a website. In fact, it was reproduced in its entirety without permission. Earlier this week a colleague had to let a senior exec know that an individual in that company was basically posting "comment spam ads" on this blog. So far as I can tell, both of these Web 2.0 social media users are employed by reputable companies; they just don't know the rules of their jobs (yet).

Now, considering all the splogs and other misuses of content (by those who choose to steal) I should be pleased that in my situation the individual clearly did not know there was anything out of line. The administrator was being a responsible citizen of the Web, letting me know how my content was being used. I suspect the comment poster thought this was appropriate behavior.

The real question I have is how one person got to be a "social media administrator" and the other a marketing intern without knowing about copyright and how to post valuable comments? Maybe, just maybe, the administrator felt it was ok to reprint my article under fair use? (That's a real stretch based on my understanding of the doctrine, even for educational purposes.) Or perhaps the person thought that "letting me know" the material was being used was equivalent to asking permission? Perhaps the intern had seen other "comment spam" and thought that was the way things were done?

There are all sorts of "quizzes" folks can use to weed out people who claim to know say GIS. Is there one for "media administrators" and marketing interns? Here are some I found that highlight the basics of copyright. (Do note, you can pretty much link to anything without permission. It's reprinting where you can get into trouble. If in doubt, ask permission. Can't get permission? Just link, preferably with attribution, that is, saying what the source is!)

- Ohio Literacy Resource Center
- SCU

By the way, I can't think of a time when Directions Media (or GIS Monitor for that matter) ever turned down a reasonable reprint request. Similarly, we've typically had very positive responses when asking members of the GIS community for permission to reprint. As for comment spam, we reserve the right to remove it (and do). And, we might contact the poster's boss.

Posted by Adena Schutzberg at 15:01 | Comments (5) | Trackbacks (0) |

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For the generation who grew up with the Internet, where everything is free (or "should be"), this is just how it is.

You get to be a "social media administrator" by knowing what Twitter is. This is just how it is.

#1 Atanas Entchev (Link) on 2009-06-23 17:28 (Reply)

Atanas,

It is indeed how it is. The challenge businesses have is to be sure the folks they hire know a bit more than that.

Adena

#2 Adena Schutzberg (Link) on 2009-06-23 17:34 (Reply)

Adena,

At least you were notified. I recently ran across an article I wrote for a hardcopy publication 9 years ago that was being sold online for $14.95.

#3 Brian Soliday on 2009-06-24 09:28 (Reply)

Brian,

Sorry to hear that. I'm guessing that unlike my situation, where my best guess is that "young/green" administrator really didn't know better, the folks reselling your stuff did. There's a big difference between reputable companies with employees that need training and-not-so reputable ones that steal material "on purpose." The former I think we can perhaps fix to some degree. The latter, not so much.

Adena

#4 Adena Schutzberg (Link) on 2009-06-24 09:52 (Reply)

Big companies are clueless too: Habitat in the UK, for example.
http://www.socialmediatoday.com/SMC/103334

Ignorance or spam?

#5 Rob on 2009-06-25 09:41 (Reply)

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In reply to	[ Top level ]#1: Atanas Entchev on 2009-06-23 17:28   #1.1: Adena Schutzberg on 2009-06-23 17:34 #2: Brian Soliday on 2009-06-24 09:28   #2.1: Adena Schutzberg on 2009-06-24 09:52 #3: Rob on 2009-06-25 09:41
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