Do You Know Who Owns Your Words?
Writing for the web creates a lot of new questions about who
owns all those words circulating out there on web sites, in
ezines and in ebooks. What about the CD's created from many of
those words in all those digital forms all over the web? Instead
of books or articles or columns, it's all being re- named
"Content".
In a 2nd Circuit Court decision last year, six freelance writers
won a case against the New York Times, Newsday and Time for
copyright infringement. Their work was re-sold as digital
content on a CDROM and later published on the web.
Their claim that they did NOT relicense their work for use on
the web or in digital compilations and were entitled to
compensation when that content was re-sold was accepted by the
court in a judgement against the original publishers of that
content.
Many writers online offer their articles "Free" for use on the
web, in ezines or in ebooks available online. But in fact are
being paid by the publishers by requiring that "resource boxes"
be used, such as the four line blurb following this article.
This is, in fact, a form of payment and is agreed to by those
writers in exchange for the traffic, publicity, subscriptions
and exposure gained when readers visit the authors web site,
subscribe to their ezine or see advertise- ments run for a fee
on their web site.
"Content" is proliferating, professional "paid" writers work is
becoming less valuable online and some professionals are
shouting, "ENOUGH! We want to be paid for our work!"
An article this week at "Ezine-Tips.com" discusses how to raise
the ire of any professional writer by asking them to write for
free.
http://ezine-tips.com/articles/management/20010316.shtml
In an earlier article by the same author, (Janet Roberts,
associate editor of "List-Universe.com") many articles by online
writers are labeled "advertising in disguise".
I'll buy that definition in many cases. I'll buy it in this
case. I'm advertising my weekly newsletter and my web site by
offering opinion and insight on the web. And it works! I've
written openly and widely that content I provide is just like an
ad for my web site and my business.
http://www.workz.com/content/1680.asp
Advertisers pay to have their ads appear in my newsletter and on
my web site. You might say that my "advertising in disguise"
attracts advertising to support my advertising if you want to
see that advertising as inherently wrong.
But I'll also ask then why is it that my articles are well read
and syndicated across many networks of web sites and ezines. I
run a business content distribution service called
"Free-Content" at:
http://yahoogroups.com/group/Free-Content
Over 500 well respected writers and publishers subscribe to that
list and publish articles distributed there. I'm about to expand
that service into additional topics and expect all to be just as
successful as the business content list.
It's not advertising, it's content, it's free and I am a
professional. What does that all mean? I leave it to you to
decide.
And now for a word from our sponsor.