John.  Thanks.  The matter of copyright infringement is more important than many would know.  Especially if they're serviced with a lawsuit.

Celia.  It is.

Christopher.  My goodness, I could actually feel your anger in your comment.

David.  Indeed.  Opportunistic, evidence of sloth and illegal.  Not a description I'd want to have.

Kris.  It is clearly impossible. 

Anne Marie.  I'm sure you and I are like the majority of ActiveRain members who get a real satisfaction from writing our own content.

Nyssa.  My pleasure.  Thanks for reading.

Mike.  Indeed.  I've posted warnings about the YouTube matters and just got a lot of argument.  Shucks, I suppose it will take a plethera of lawsuits for it to stop.

Steve.  We do have to watch our own blogs.  I have had several members use my images.  A note from me was all it took to have them take them down.  One took about 4 days, but she did apoligize.

June.  Anyone can take snippets from a post and put it into Google.  If the snippet has been published before, it will usually show on Google SERP.  This has nothing to do with ActiveRain.  This is basic Google search. 

I research my copyright protected (with certificates) articles from time to time.  I've got an agent in AZ now who stole one of my articles.  I'll get to her.

Carol.  Sad isn't it??

Mike.  It's an enormous problem.  I'm sure it's a more serious problem for feature moderators.

Steve.  Agreed.

Cindy.  Funny.  I'd say about 95% of my photos that have been posted on another web page or blog are from the immediate area. 

I don't bother with photos.  Too many and not worth the trouble. 

Cindy.  Indeed.  My photos are just not worth the trouble.  My maps are a different story.

Georgina.  I don't have any issues with the reblog feature.  I loved it from day one when it was introduced.

Reblogging is, for me, simply easy syndication of our blog posts.  Google indexes them too. 

Some folks believe that reblogging causes copyright or duplicate content issues.  I simply disagree.  I'm no expert but that's my perspective.

Loreena.  Thanks.  I'd like to see folks stop "messing" with any content they didn't create and/or write. 

The content thieves cause so much wasted time just tracking them down and proceeding.  I want them all in jail. 

They get no sympathy from me.

Ruthmarie.  College papers is where I first became aware of the proliferation of this problem.

Robin and Sue.  Creating your own content is hard.  GEE, it takes 10-15 minutes to write an interesting 30-40 lines or so.

Perhaps they never had an original thought enter their head.

#30.  We keep trying.  It's like the plague.  You get rid of it in own town and it crops up in the next village.

#29.  I'm not sure what the ActiveRain process is.  There must be something going on when they know they have a serial plagiarizer at loose.

Gary.  Glad to help.  It's cost me a lot and will continue to do so.  However, I just can't let my competition get away with using my content to compete with me.

Roland.  You are so right.  It's a national problem of great magnitude.

Greg.  I have a few other terms.

Esko.  I'll keep trying.  My first post on ActiveRain was about copyright.  3.5 years later and they're still at it.

Timothy.  Perhaps.  I'm not sure the plaigiagers strive to be "best".  I believe that they are simply opportunistic and acquired the habit of finding content to copy and paste because they are lazy and don't want to develop the skills to create content on their own.

Frank.  Nancy was trying to convince individuals to ignore their peers and not join in the habit of taking druges.  On ActiveRain the percentage of plaigiarizers is the minority.  The people who steal content aren't participating in peer group behavior.  They act in stealth and alone to find, copy and post. 

Tom.  Good for you for taking an aggressive attitude about protecting your content. 

 I do all the things that you do.  However, when I find one of my copyright registered map images on the web site of a local competitor, I proceed to collect damages for their use of my copyright protected property.  That includes real estate agents, appraisers, home inspectors, title companies, etc. who have benefited from the use of my protected property. 

I have over 100 registered map images so statutory damages don't have to be litigated beyond filing.  Most settle.  Of the few who didn't settle with me, I have received a judgment on each for 5-10 times the amount that they would have to have paid to settle a damage amount in the beginning.

Your procedure is fine.  However, time is valuable.  Your procedures cost time and the perpetrators don't even get a slap on the wrist.  If they are a competitor, simply taking your content down is not enough.  The damage is done by the use of your content to promote their services.  In the case of real estate practitioners, the damage is done when they use my content to compete with me.  The statutory damage begins at $750 per use of the copyright protected content plus attorney fees.

Getting them to take the content down is fine.  I just take it one step further and make them pay.

Katerina.  You wrote:  "It made me realize that many newbies on the internet and on AR just don't know."

I disagree.  The very fact that she asked if she could copy and paste makes me think that she does know but is looking for support for what she knows is wrong.  I believe that people do know.  They are, however, opportunistic.  The fact that so many use the tired old excuse that "my web master did it" is so lame it defies imagination.  The lamest excuse I ever got was "the Russians did it".  They claimed to use an offshore web design company.  It soon came out that he not only owned a web design company, an internet service provider, but was very experienced in the world of Internet marketing.  Yet, he stole about 11 of my map images for use on his real estate web site.  "The Russians did it" indeed. 

They own the content and are responsible for what is on their web pages.  Are they going to deny that they saw that content that they didn't write or didn't see my map on their web site and didn't even ask where it came from????  I don't buy it.

Carla.  Great idea.  HA!  Perhaps it should be sent to new members. 

Andrea.  Thanks for stopping by. 

Many folks believe that they can use content by giving credit to the writer of the content, which is your case above.  NOT SO and they need to know so.

I don't proceed against everyone who uses content with the exception of my copyright protected map images.  There's just no time and it isn't cost effective to proceed against everyone who steals a few words or a photo or two.  Sure they stole it but how much do we want to invest in time and money to make them pay.  Not worth it.

One thing that I do if an agent steals my content or photos is send a nice friendly note to their broker.  I at least have the satisfiaction of knowing that the broker knows that their agent is a thief.  Of course if the broker is the one who stole the photo or content, the next step up would be the real estate board, if they are REALTORS.  For me, not worth my time.

But, at least they know that I know.  Sometimes that's enough.

Tony.  You can do the same thing in Google.  Just take a line or two from the post and put it in Google.  If it "matches" anything on the Internet, the SERP will list them.  That's why I said that they cannot hide.

Dick and Dixie.  It's a passion.  I have volumes of content and I work hard to develop it.  If I wanted to give it away, I would.  I don't want people to steal my content.

Bob.  I Google my own.  The services turn up too much junk and words or phrases.  I want to find real content or images.

Teresa.  Based on my experience, they love to steal in MD and VA too.

Russell.  HA!  I have a compendium of info for anyone who wants to share my experience.

Claude.  I don't give legal advice.  I merely speak of my experience.  I don't pursue written content thieves or even photo thieves.  It wouldn't be worth the time.  I do, however, pursue thieves that use my copyright protected maps on their web sites to compete with me. 

Yes, I do register them, file the registration application with a copy of my map, pay the fee and receive a certificate.  I used to do it manually.  These days I can register online and attach the images to be registered.

Claudette.  AGREED!  I no longer give the thieves the benefit of the doubt.

Mike.  That cannot be said often enough, the total lack of respect that one agent would have for another while stealing their content.

Mike J.  Thanks.  It's self preservation on the Internet.

Amy.  You wrote, "or use quotation marks and give credit to the person."  Not so.

A common mistake.  You can quote a mere snipped, a few lines.  Beyond that, you have to LINK to the original.  Simply putting copied content in quotations and giving attribution or credit doesn't give one the permission of the owner of the original content to use their creative work.  Unless you have permission and I would advise in writing, you cannot use more than a couple of lines of someone else's material.

Gary.  Thanks.  That's why they were posted.

Michele.  In deed we do.  The poachers need to be driven away.

Joseph.  HA!  We all know.  If they took my maps, the judge will know too.

Carol.  Agreed.  Totally.  It demeans them and, for me, I no longer subscribe to their blog when I see someone has abused the rules and the law.  I'm often very surprised at the folks who copy and paste.  I say to myself, Good Grief, I am shocked to find that so-and-so is a content thief.

Missy.  This is the second time I've done this.  I suppose it needs to be done every year.

Joe.  I just don't understand it.  I just lose all respect for folks who steal the hard work of others.  It's especially discouraging when it's an ActiveRain member that you know and have read.

Tom Branch.  Are you unable to find the copyright page??? 

For ActiveRain readers:

The matter or snippets is based in the Fair Use exemption to copyright protection.  From the Copyright.gov page:  http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.pdf

The 1961 Report of the Register of Copyrights on the General Revision of the U.S. Copyrightcites examples of activities that courts have regarded as fair use: "quotation of excerpts in Law

a review or criticism for purposes of illustration or comment; quotation of short passages in a

scholarly or technical work, for illustration or clarification of the author's observations; use in

a parody of some of the content of the work parodied; summary of an address or article, with

brief quotations, in a news report; reproduction by a library of a portion of a work to replace

part of a damaged copy; reproduction by a teacher or student of a small part of a work to

illustrate a lesson; reproduction of a work in legislative or judicial proceedings or reports; incidental

and fortuitous reproduction, in a newsreel or broadcast, of a work located in the scene

of an event being reported."

Michael P.  Sad that anyone would need basic training in how not to steal.

Judi.  I have found some prominent, very prominent members to have violated copyright law, sadly with impugnity.  Now, when I read one of their blogs I suspect that every image on their post is stolen from a cartoonist and every word stolen from another member of found from a Google search.

Lori.  Interesting.  I bet he has some interesting stories.

Tricia.  I'm not a lawyer, but my recollection would be: 

You can publish the information, if you created the lists, etc. yourself.  If you merely copy and past a list or selection of information published by the MLS, that's not permitted. 

Once someone takes information or data, arranges it in their own creation of list or content, it's not a violation of the original publication and is copyright protected to you.

The exception is the IDX info which you can, if you are a broker or with broker permission publish IDX listings. 

Lori.  My pleasure.

Emily.  Thanks.  I just wish it, the warnings, had more teeth.

Alan.  It's a matter of time.  A photo of a house isn't that important to me in the overall scheme of things.  My map images, however are.  Also, enforcing a copyright through the legal channels is expensive.  I collect damages, but first I pay my attorney to represent me in the case.

Brian.  Don't call me a matriarch.  That breads envy and enmity.  Cousider me a friend in the business who cares about all of us.  TOTOH, someone at my health club, a mere youngster of about 40, called me the Diva of the gym.  I'll take that. 

Tere.  I spend 10-45 minutes on a blog post.  Most are no more than 20 minutes or so.  If you think it, just write it.  It's the Localisms that take the time compiling info and research.

Todd.  Of course.  If you buy the content, you are usually buying a license to publish it.  HA!  I remember a few years ago, a large number of agents published the same "testimonials" on their web pages, still containing the same names.  It was a riot.

Tammy.   Yep.  Flag it.  I do one or two every day.

David.  HA!  It's one of my hobbies.

Craig.  Indeed.  That's where the problem with folks not learning to write begins.  That too, is where we are introduced to the copyright laws. 

Carole.  There are two thoughts about YouTube.  One believes that you can use anything there because the person gives "permission" when they upload the video.  That is no doubt accurate.

However, there are many YouTube posts that include third party videos.  There are copyright protected videos of any type that folks copy and use. 

I'm very risk averse.  I wouldn't risk using a video from YouTube unless I knew the source and had written permission.  Nothing on YouTube is worth the risk.

Coleen.  Not being part of the brain trust here, I don't make policy.  There must be some reason why they handle these matters the way they do.

Laurie.  If memory serves me correctly, you had already asked me about putting photos that you didn't own on your web page.  I said, absolutely not.   To which you agreed but it wasn't your decision to make and the photos went on anyway.

I know others on ActiveRain who have paid for the use of photos that didn't belong to them.

I let folks "out" themselves.

Kyle.  Indeed.  You'd think. . . . .

Wendy.  It is hard to comprehend, but it does happen.

Michael.  Indeed.  I've said many times, I have some of the ugliest web sites on the net, but they are all mine, mine, mine.

You tell them John.  You've been around this Internet marketing long enough to see it all. 

Petra.  THAT IS PRICELESS.  To think a 9 year old has learned the lesson of and respect for copyright protection and some adult ActiveRain real estate practitioners have not. 

Laurie.  I remember if vividly.

Petra.  THAT IS PRICELESS.  To think a 9 year old has learned the lesson of and respect for copyright protection and some adult ActiveRain real estate practitioners have not. 

Laurie.  I remember if vividly.

Eileen.  I don't know.  I know a lot of folks don't blog because they don't believe that they can write but wouldn't dream of stealing content.

C. Lloyd.  Ideas for blog posts are everywhere.  Every house we show, every closing we have, every builder we visit, something in the news daily, press releases from government officials.. 

There is never a shortage of things to write about. 

Marc.  Every once in a while, I'm inspired by an event.  In this case, it was seeing an ActiveRain post that was a copy and paste job.

Renee.  They are all on my blog tagged "copyright".

Chris.  I doubt it.  Even the thief who steals a car never dreams that he'd be caught. 

Chriseine.  Or, they could be inspired to do the right thing and write their own content.

Paul.  Good for you.  In fact, I believe that it's less labor intensive to just write a few lines than to search the web for content to steal.

Sally.  HA!  Slimy describes them before they are asked.

Tom Branch. 

Look up the "Fair Use" exemption. 

What is your point???? 

You are making some kind of veiled accusation but haven't YET come right out and said it. 

Why not just spell out what you are saying.  Cryptic isn't attractive when debating a subject as serious as plagiarism or copyright infringement. 

Do you believe that it's permissible to copy and past content written by someone else??  Or what???? 

Rather than dance around what you're saying, why not just come out and say it??

You write:  "I know the law.  I questioned your position that you may quote a few lines and provide a link back to the original work." 

If you "know the law", why not provide the readers a citation.  You questioned my position on snippets and I gave you a citation. 

Give us one back so the readers can decide for themselves about the legality of the use of snippets and the Fair Use exemption.

Claude.  The difference with infringement damages is whether the article, image, photo, etc. has been registered is whether proceeding against a content thief is or is not STATUTORY. 

If I have registered an image and I find an image thief at work, I have STATUTORY damages beginning at $750 per use plus attorney fees.  That's the statute.

If I haven't yet registered the content, it is still copyright protected and I own that copyright from the instant the content, article, image, photo is created, whether or not it has been published, which was a change in the present day copyright law.

I have found that collecting damages is easier with registered content.  Without, I still collect but have to prove my case. 

Tom Branch. 

I quoted the section from the Copyright page.  I don't know what else I can do.  BTW, I am not an expert, don't claim to be one and am not giving legal advice.  I am relating my experience in prosecuting and collecting money damages from about 20 copyright thieves.

Perhaps you should do what I do and study the copyright web site.  http://www.copyright.gov/

Jayne.  Thanks for your valuable comment.  Few on ActiveRain have "been there".

I don't know what, if anything, the ActiveRain folks will or can do.

Dana.  Not much at all.  Go to the copyright.gov page.  You can register the document electronically and attach the content. 

They confirm by e-mail with minutes with a copyright #.  It takes minutes and costs about $25 each.  Or, you can complete a manual form and it costs $35.

I just got three certs back this week which were filed on Nov. 12, 2009.  But, you're protected from the day you register.

#12.  It really is a shame isn't it.  So much negative energy just to protect our own property from law breakers.  I agree that they think they won't get caught.  I don't believe that they're that ignorant of copyright matters.  If they are, they shouldn't be practicing real estate brokerage. 

Jim.  HA!  You've seen my posts to RealTalk and ActiveRain about copyright since about 2005.  Little has changed.  Even with some high profile damage awards to the music industry, folks just keep doing the same thing over and over. 

Brian.  Thanks.  We don't need titles on ActiveRain.  We are in this thing together and we learn from each other.  My awareness of many important aspects of the real estate industry is intensified by the collaboration of my ActiveRain peers.