Hi Mary,

You have raised a very relevant subject for anyone using the internet to promote their writing or persona by using articles.

The intention of copyright law is and always has been to protect the rights of the creator of an the writing or the song or whatever the items in question could be.   

To give a simple example- if a  man or woman writes a song - and then finds it stolen by another performer who doesnt credit the writer. Then The performer gains popularity as a singer song writer and gets more work as a result and maybe money.  The real writer cant sell his song - it is already known, he gets no recognition for his work and the possible financial benefits and neither does he get his royalties for having his song used by another person.

The same with the writing of articles, books or poetry etc etc.

If i write an article on my chosen subject, to attract business and attention to my site - if someone else uses it without a back link to me and without myname - who will use my site - they already have the info credited to someone else and dont know I exist.

The  internet does I believe include an inherent right to copyright of  the writing on it, unless it comes from an uncopyrightable source, like the bible, or as Joe mentioned, a title and some other cases.   The absence of a copyright Statement does NOT automatically transfer the work to the public domain.

Many sites do have a copyright statement - and you cannot always copy stuff and give a back link - even that is forbidden.  Sometimes a charge is made for the permission and sometimes it can be refused.  But permission must be sought.

This is a fair protection for creators - because if they have no protection, they have no motivation to continue creating - they  lose the money and  benefits of the recognition  which is rightly theirs for their efforts which instead goes to someone else who is basically a thief . 

That is why the the law is often referred to as the Law to Protect Intellectual PROPERTY.  And the good book says - thou shalt not steal.

Harsh words?  Wait until you spend hours and weeks and maybe more working on a piece, giving it your time and energy and knowledge - and then you find it somewhere else under someone else's name!

Saludos
Jenny

Jenny, Your message is too true. It really brings it home when you point out the reality of kidnapping someone else's work. To take something I have is cruel but to take what I have created with mind, soul and spirt is an invasion of our very being. I will think twice before I consider ever taking someone's creation.

Mary,  Even my interviews are under my copywrite.  If someone wants to reprint them somewhere other than my locations, they must seek permission.  I wouldn't want any of my work showing up somewhere i don't approve.  My paid writing is always under contract and i am specific about my rights.

There is a book called the copyright handbook.  It is a great resouce for freelancers and a handy reference for copying material.   

Melissa, Good information. It is great to hear from those of you using copyright provisions in your business. I went looking in http://shophereandplayhere.com went to books and typed in "copyright handbook". There it is and you can have it by May 11 at a good markdown price. There are other resource books there as well on the issue of copywrite. Here's where to purchase the book. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw/103-7324252-8188614?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Copyright+handbook&Go.x=12&Go.y=12 Hey folks, I am still going through my forums just to make sure all is well. Let's be prudent about this (a former president just might have said that). Or as the current president might say "Let's stay the course".

Hi everyone, The question has been posed, how would anyone know that a member of Adlandpro has their copyright material posted on the Adlandpro site. It was explained to me that all one has to do is put in the first sentence of the copyright material and google does the rest of the work. The more you are known on the internet the more likely you will be picked up by an author or artists that will be after you billfold in the form of a lawsuit. I have a cute e-mail I received from a friend. I took the first phrase. "This is how your house looks". Put that up on google and the first choice is: http://www.hobb.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=838&Itemid=426 Tell me if you should reproduce this with your name on it. Go there just for fun----you deserve a break if you read this far. I just sold my house and I think it was 2 or 3 in the eyes of the realtor and buyer.