When I started blogging in 2007, I wanted my blogs to POP.I wanted pictures to accompany the stories and a few times used cartoon pictures that I got off the internet.
I went back through my old posts (back in 2007) to make sure I didn't have any pictures inserted in them ....that WERE NOT mine. I had a few. I deleted them quickly as I was learning about NOT using animations, pictures, cartoons that were not mine. Obviously, it was “stealing” and I did not get permission to use them.
I always write my own content so I never had to worry about that. HOWEVER, I have noticed that there are a few people that blatantly copy and paste other peoples blogs, articles and pictures into their blogs and answer to the comments like they had written it!
Just as I do in my Real Estate business, I do everything by the book and advertising (including blogging) also has to be within our state laws for the Real Estate Industry. There are no cutting corners in how we advertise ourselves and if you are ‘STEALING’ other peoples content or pictures you will not only jeopardize your license, but you areputting yourself at risk of getting charged for plagiarism and copyright infringement.
Blogging is fun and can be very rewarding if done correctly. We follow all the guidelines and rules not only on ActiveRain, but through all our internet marketing. We carry ourselves in high esteem to give information to the public and our peers.
When the public catches on you are copying another's work
Do you REALLY think they are going to call you?
We have to use our OWN written words and pictures. If you steal other people’s content or pictures reconsider your reasons for blogging. There is no such thing as “borrowing” and there is no justifying TAKING other people’s work because you are lazy to do it yourself.
A couple of our long time members on ActiveRain wrote these a few years back but they are still good examples of blogs about Plagiarism (STEALING):
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Lenn Harley's posts on copyright infringement are full of information and more specifically this posts with many links on the subject are in this post: COPYRIGHT INFORMATION FOR ACTIVERAIN MEMBERS! I’ve known Lenn from ActiveRain coming up on 6 years and believe me, she knows what’s she’s talking about!
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Jeff Belonger wrote Plagiarism vs Integrity - What they don't know won't hurt them, right?? WRONG!!!!He expounds on PLAGIARISM here and a good read.
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"A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words? How About a Thousand Dollars?" Community Guidelines Re-Visited Rich Jacobson explains that ‘this guideline is extremely important, and will help to keep your hard-earmed money where it belongs and your butt out of court.
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How NOT to steal pictures... and Mike Mueller tells us all how to NOT steal pictures and the reasons why. It really can cost you readership and a big old GONG!
Bottom line.... No one should be taking and downloading anything from anyone's blog or sites! IT IS STEALING! If they give you permission….GET IT IN WRITING JUST AS YOU DO IN REAL ESTATE! If it isn’t in writing and signed then you don’t have a contract!! And if you do have written permission then make sure you acknowledge it. TO BE SAFE>>>JUST DO YOUR OWN WORK!
So....if you have arguments about why it's okay to use other people's content, pictures, animations, cartoons and maps, let’s hear it. But first, READ ABOUT COPYRIGHT STRAIGHT FROM http://www.copyright.gov
No Excuses.
If you did not take that picture and you did not write that content
......then it is NOT yours to put in your blog.
PLAGIARISM.COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT.
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