Copyright is an issue which flows around the blogosphere, especially as sploggers and scrapers become more prominent. These are parasites who aggregate the content of others to worm a few measly dollars from Google ads.
Personally I’m not too fussed by it. I’ve had some of my posts harvested into such blogs before. It annoys me if there isn’t a link back, but I’m a small fish in a mighty ocean. There’s not much I can do about the sharks.
I’ve taken a few preventative steps though to protect myself in the event of something really nasty.
I encountered a situation earlier this year in which a photo of my children appeared on a web site with adult content. They used a direct link to the image on my server. Once detected I was able to remove it.
What would I have done if they had copied the photo and uploaded it elsewhere? Chances are I would never have known, but if I did, I would have sought to exercise my legal rights.
I have applied a Creative Commons Licence to this site. it states the content is free to share and adapt with attribution for non-commercial purposes. I retain my moral rights to the content. There is a full legal code included.
In the case of an image being used inappropriately I would ask the publisher to cease and desist on the grounds that “prejudice to honour or reputation is prohibited”.
That’s why I also apply a copyright to this site. The Creative Commons Licence may or may not be enforceable; in my view it seeks to enshrine a principle.
I recently discovered a service called MyFreeCopyright and I registered this site. It applies a digital certificate to all posts.
My main concern is to exercise moral rights in particular circumstances of abuse.
