One other thing you will learn on the internet is copyright, fair use, and how you can use pictures, quote text, the issue of linking to articles, the use of the old media as a source, and a ton of other things that can cause issues with you and your blog. Two resources that can help you understand the issues around copyright, linking, blogging, and staying safe in a dangerous intellectual property environment are the EFF and the Chilling Effects Clearing House.
The first resource is the EFF, the Electronic Frontier Foundation . Their section on blogging rights, responsibilities, and easy to read and understand documents will help you understand the issues that bloggers face in the USA when dealing with external parties. If you are writing a blog that covers anything on the internet at some point, you will get a takedown notice or a cease and desist notice. This is an unpleasant fact of blogging or doing near anything on the internet. The EFF viewpoint is more about knowing your rights on line, and knowing your rights around free speech. For example, when they describe section 230 of the DMCA, they point out that you are responsible for what you write, but people how comment on your blog you are not responsible for but you also have the option of what you want to do about those comments. If someone wants something removed, that is materially incorrect, that is one thing, but if the allegations are true, then you do not have to remove a comment that could be potentially damaging to a person .
The EFF also has information about how the state or people can unmask an anonymous blogger who is covering or writing about state officials or companies involved in potentially illegal activities. Companies, ISP’s, and others all have rules they need to follow when requesting the identity of a blogger or an internet user via the courts . One very good example of this is the Consumerist published “22 Confessions of a Former Dell Sales Manager ” which promptly got a Cease and Desist take down notice from Dell. The major aggregation sites and social voting sites like Digg, Slashdot, and others driving a lot of attention to the issue, which was how Dell was using the DMCA in an improper manner quickly noticed the internet including copies of the take down notice. Due to blogger outrage, and the increasingly vocal calls on the internet for Dell to stop, Dell within days admitted they were wrong, and tried to let the matter drop.
The consumerist posted the Dell response “Dell Admits Error in Asking Consumerist to Remove Post ,” and the matter went away. However, this was not done without damaging Dell’s reputation , as they had to expend resources to help clean up the issue and respond to everyone who commented about it on the internet. Other big chain stores have tried to do the same thing, like Wal-Mart , which won the legal issue with the Consumerist and the material was removed .
The Chilling Effects Clearing House is another excellent source of information about what you can do about a takedown, with samples of what a takedown looks like, what you can do, and how to manage the entire take down or cease and desist process that people will send to you. One of the best examples about how this works is when someone sends you something that falls under fair use. Fair use is a loose and nebulous issue, and many people, who post things for educational purposes , or for satire, parody, or to talk about a company or their favorite NFL team can at times conflict with what is happening.
Understanding fair use, and how fair use works is an important part of understanding your rights and obligations as a blogger. One of the more interesting issues around fair use is the “Dancing Baby Video.” A mom posted a video on YouTube of a baby-dancing while in the background the “Let’s Go Crazy” song from prince was playing . The music company complained and had it taken down from YouTube. The mother sued stating that the video was “fair use ” which the courts agreed with. The idea of fair use and how you develop content around a concept or theme the more you know the better off you are. While most simply take down the file, video, picture in question, sometimes you can win a court case and seek damages for material that falls under fair use. Even professional journalists as bloggers can be involved in these kinds of issues, as one journalist learned when he was ejected from a NCAA game for blogging live from the game .
The biggest thing to remember about takedowns is that you do have rights, and it is well worth your time to know what they are. You should know about your rights and your responsibilities about what you write and how you use other people’s stuff. If you are ever in doubt, it is always wise to contact a lawyer and have them advise you on the issue.
