In October Melanie Nelson from Blogging Basics 101 wrote a few posts at BloggingTips (paid posts). In one of our email conversations she mentioned that she likes to retain full rights of any post she writes so that she can post it elsewhere on the web. This was something I was strongly against as I want all posts on BloggingTips to be original and I don’t want content duplicated elsewhere on the web.
Recently I noticed Melanie wrote a good post on her blog entitled Blog Design: Keep It Clutter-Free and User-Friendly. At the end of the post was a small note to say that ‘This post was cross-posted at BlogHer.com.’
I know some bloggers do want to retain full rights of articles they write but in my opinion, when you write an article for another blog, be it a guest post or a paid gig, the article belongs to the blog you are writing on. Sure you can reproduce parts of the article yourself on your own blog if you are referring to it but I don’t think you should be reproducing it elsewhere (Just to clarify, my intention here is not to criticize Melanie in any shape or form. She was completely up front about cross posting from our first conversations and wasn’t hiding anything. I just happen to have a different opinion from Melanie on this subject so I thought it would be an interesting topic to discuss). 
Double Posting Views
Yesterday I asked forum members what they thought about double posting. It’s clear that this is a topic which divides opinions. It’s also clear that there are a lot of grey areas with this issue.
- David Anderson hit the nail in the head when he said :
It does need to be discussed and agreed upon up front.
I think this is one of the best things to remember. Any misunderstandings can be avoided if the issue is discussed before the blogger starts writing for the blog. If the blog owner objects to posts published on their blog being published elsewhere then they should be clear about this (I have a note about it in my author information page).
David also noted that under UK Copyright Law :
Normally the individual or collective who authored the work will exclusively own the work. However, if a work is produced as part of employment then it will normally belong to the person/company who hired the individual.
Freelance or commissioned work will usually belong to the author of the work, unless there is an agreement to the contrary, (i.e. in a contract for service).
The above suggests that when someone is paid to write content the work belongs to the company however the word normally indicates that this is not always black or white.
- Rarst believes that :
From copyright point of few this is not the case (as far as I know). For example this answer in forum doesn’t belong to you, it belongs to me because I wrote it. If I make comment in blog it belongs to me as well, unless blog has visible license agreement to agree for posting comments.
It may not seem right to blog owners but author is author, as long as there are no additional rules everyone agreed to.
I have to agree with Rarst on this though I believe leaving comments on blogs and forums is a slightly different issue from writing on other blogs.
- Slee thinks that :
I would agree that the site you are writing the article for should have copyright on the article unless explicitily stated.
Sarah brought up an interesting point which I hadn’t originally thought of :
By saying that you’re saying that if you wrote a guest post for another site that site would have full rights on that article and could do what they wanted with it, eg sell it on to perhaps a number of people wanting to add the article into a PLR pack.
Or perhaps, if you wrote say a number of posts, the site owner could take your posts and repackage them into an eBook and not have to pay you a penny on the sales.
I realise this is above what Kevin is asking, but if copyright was as you stated, that’s what could happen, which is not right.
There’s a difference between copyright and an exclusive license. Giving the first away would lose all control on your work, whereas the second means your client gets what they want without you losing your rights to ownership. Both meet the requirement of writing for one site and not reposting it elsewhere.
I think this is an issue which will cause a lot more arguments than the double posting issue as post exclusivity is something which many blog owners are up front about. The question of whether the blog post will be included in an ebook, magazine or book is not discussed as frequently.
It raises some questions :
- Do guest posters have the same right as paid posters?
- Does the blog owner have the right to reproduce a bloggers article without prior consent?
Again, I think this brings us back to David Andersons original point that these issues need to be discussed and agreed up front. Unfortunately, this doesn’t always happen.
A few years ago a popular poker magazine contacted me to tell me that they had used a few of my articles and forum posts in their magazine. I wasn’t too concerned as they linked to my poker forum however they didn’t ask me up front, they simply added it and then contacted me afterwards to tell me about it. On a few occasions they also reproduced members posts without their consent. I queried this and they promised that the members would be sent a copy of the magazine but they never produced the goods. This was when I first realised that large online websites and offline magazines are sometimes the worst offenders when it comes to reproducing content without consent.
Overview
It’s clear that many bloggers and blog owners have different opinions about who owns a post and whether the post can be republished elsewhere.
What do you think about double posting? Do you think guest posters should be allowed to post the article on their own blog? Do bloggers give up the right to content if they are paid for writing the article?
Drop by the forums and let us know what you think
* Forum member Jeff Chandler has also posted a poll over at Performancing on whether Guest Bloggers Should Be Able To Republish The Same Post To Multiple Blogs?. So far 14% say Yes and 79% say no. I recommend checking it out
In my eyes, the author of the material retails full ownership of all rights not given/sold to the blog owner. For the owner of a blog to claim ownership of content posted there by a guest/paid blogger without establishing the claim with the author BEFORE the post was submitted is absolutely wrong.
Any and all terms, conditions, or licensing issues should be discussed BEFORE any material is submitted. If you do not want people double posting content submitted to your blog, then by all means, establish those terms ahead of time. But never claim ownership of content you did not write without first acquiring ownership of the content.
Reproducing content submitted to your blog by a guest/paid blogger without license to do so is a very bad idea. If you do not have proof of license to do so, you do not have license to do so.
A couple of weeks ago, the exact same guest post showed up on two blogs I read within a couple of days and I got to thinking about this issue. To me, the best solution is to approach it the way literary magazines do. Most have a policy in which they do not accept previously published work at all. Others will republish but there is usually some kind of grace period – so if the last time a piece was published was a year ago, they will consider it.
I think that's a pretty good practice. Ultimately, it's up to the publisher.
The creator of any written piece should retain full control over their work. There are duplicate content issues and the like, but getting it in front of people is more important than if Google penalizes a website.
If the parties involved agree to certain limitation about republishing then those should be honored. Publishers (website, magazine, newspaper, whatever) who don't want duplicate content have the right to refuse to use the work.
Most people just want to get their work out in front of other people. The more sites that publish what you've written the more people will see it. It's kind of like when you first start a new website. You post the url everywhere you can think of just to get people to visit. Same idea with writing an article. Build an audience through quality and quantity.
I think copyright laws are pretty much the same for writing as they are for artwork.
I am a watercolor artist, and did some design work for a company, and they up front advised that they would retain the copyright to my work. I agreed, and got paid for the work. If I did not agree, they would not hire me.
In the case you describe, if you do not make the stipulation in advance that you want the copyright to the written work, then the writer still owns the copyright to the work. Bundling the work into an ebook is a violation of the writer's copyright.
Now just to cloud the issue, the US is trying to pass the Orphan Works Bill which will prove to be disastrous for artists and writers everywhere.
Good question Kevin. I think paid posts should be original. For unpaid posts, I think the copyright should belong to the writer — UNLESS they make it clear that they're giving it away to the blog they post on.
I do a few unpaid blog posts from time to time — and I always give the copyright to the blog I'm posting too. For me, the payoff is exposure, so it's well worth it.
The bottom line is, everyone should know — up front — what the deal is. That way, no confusion ensues.
I can see this argument from both sides on the one hand website owners need to protect there sites reputation with search engines and on the other side article writers have created their articles and should have the right to submit their work where they please. I guess that the fairest thing to do is to make it clear if you are a website owner that only original articles can be posted and that they should not be seen elsewhere and then it is up to the article writer whoo after all is the one providing the content for a site.
Kevin,
I don't think your interpretation of David's quote of UK copyright law is quite correct ("The above suggests that when someone is paid to write content the work belongs to the company…").
The quote highlights that the work only belongs to the company when the person is employed by them – not if they are simply paid to do some work. Usually an emplyment contract includes clauses giving ownership of the material to the employer – but if not, by default, they get it. Conversely, if the author is not emplyed, but is a contractor, or is selling the piece of work itself, then the contract should set out who retains ownership.
Ian
Technically speaking they own the copyright. But if someone posts on my blog (whether they are guest posting or I've hired them) I prefer if they don't post it anywhere else on the web.
I do believe "public" postings; forums, blog comments, etc., are up for grabs as they say…out of courtesy though, if you use it you give credit where it is due.
As for guest posts, i have it clearly written on a seoparate page that all content must be original.
I look after a number of sites and have double posted in the past. I know from my records and the reports I have seen on some of the other sites that there are evergreen posts which do continue to generate traffic for long periods afterward as well as Sploggers & other bots who just outright steal content.
First publication rights and second rights etc. seems less relevant online but these things all need to be discussed up front. Content creators often face a trade-off between short term payinmg the bills and longer term e-publishing scenarios where an editor / publisher can look back over the the "most loved" content and maybe fire up the LaTEX system for a ebook or two.
My post on "When Self Publishing Makes Sense" at http://www.dialogcrm.com/blog/2007/09/23/when-sel…
has some insights on the long tail of content.
http://freelancemarket.co.nz/ aslo has some ideas on this. The freelance market came out of hugely different negotiating positions that most of the smaller contractors strat from.
The dilemma for content creators is that they often only get one bite at the cherry whereas publishers often have other republication opportunities over time to harvest the "back catalogue" as it were.
Another issue that hasn't been touched on is that print publications often get bought and sold. I've had "agreements" with an editor or publisher that never gets formalised & then the catalogue company is sold without full regard for the "strings attached".
Of course all contracts should be written and enforceable but larger companies often have standard terms & conditions which they use to over ride any variations for individuals.
Double posting is definitely a topic of interest.
But once you have been paid for the article; technically doesn’t it become the property of the buyer?
Lilla wrote: "But once you have been paid for the article; technically doesn’t it become the property of the buyer?"
Unless the author sells you all rights to their work, absolutely not. The original author retains any and all rights to their creations until they sell those rights. Without written proof of such an arrangement, or some sort of obvious "paper trail," any use of their would be determined as copyright infringement if challenged.
It is absolutely critical to establish any and all terms and conditions related to the use of a contributor's content BEFORE the content is provided to ensure you do not unwittingly set yourself up for a legal battle you will probably lose.
If you wish to use content you did not write, you must either purchase full rights (aka "buy out") or request license to use the material. The author may or may not grant license, and may or may not charge for use of the material. Keep in mind, each possible use you intend for the material must be stipulated in the agreement with the author, as well as how the material will be distributed. If you only have an agreement to publish the content on your blog, using it in an email newsletter without specifying that method of distribution… even if it is just a blog digest… is considered a violation of copyright law.
Copyright law is intended to provide the author/creator/owner of content with protection, not the publisher. Bloggers should be no less aware of Copyright Law than any other type of writer.
Hi
I am going to buy a new wheels. Wish to have an up market one, but have no ideas what to choose… Can smb advise me something?