August 4, 2015: When it comes to the world of social media, copyright is not a word that is tossed around very seriously. As brands and pages struggle to appeal to their followers, the need for “content” that is humorous, visual, interesting, and, best of all, viral, has become a cut throat competition.
Recently, I’ve discovered the blatant disregard for content creators thanks to the explosion of Facebook video. Popular “curation” Facebook pages that share memes and viral videos often simply take the original video and re-upload it to Facebook as their own, without giving the original creator credit. These videos amass thousands (sometimes millions) of views, and the original creator may not even be aware of it. There have been quite a few articles written on the matter, but not much has happened to stop this so-called “freebooting.”
As a photographer, I’ve been aware that the Internet is a breeding ground for content theft for a long time. I’ve found my images used on Twitter headers, as part of short stories, and within blog posts. Once, thanks to Google’s reverse image search, I found a personal photo of a friend and myself on a foreign Facebook page that had been turned into some sort of romance meme with over 700 likes and 200 shares. I find it ironic that the people who did this put their watermark on the image they lifted from my blog.
As a brand, it’s important to understand that if you didn’t make the content or purchase it from a stock agency, it’s up to you to find the source and give the proper credit.
Here are a few tips to avoid being classified as a content thief:
- Do your homework! If you love an image you find, try to find the original source before using it. Google Image Search is a great way to try to track down the owner. We’ve also written about free image sources that you don’t need to ask permission to use.
- When you find the source, ask before using. Many creators make a living off of their work, so just giving credit may not be enough. Shoot them an e-mail or tweet asking if it would be okay to feature their art or words on your page.
- Give a link back. If the content creator has the decency to allow you to use their work with just proper credit, do the right thing and provide a link back to their work or site. If you quote an article in your blog post, link back to the source.
- Sharing is caring. If the creator has shared his/her video/image/quote on social media, simply share it on your page. Social media is all about sharing, not stealing.
- Content theft can land you in court. Getty recently sued a Florida couple for lifting some of its copyrighted images for their home-based business. The ultimate bill? More than $300,000. A little due diligence, plus some basic respect for the rights of image creators, could have prevented this life-wrecking result.
