Tuesday, September 30, 2008

World Wide Web

"The Internet has been characterized as the largest threat to copyright since its inception. The Internet is awash in information, a lot of it with varying degrees of copyright protection. Copyrighted works on the Net include news stories, software, novels, screenplays, graphics, pictures, Usenet messages and even email. In fact, the frightening reality is that almost everything on the Net is protected by copyright law. That can pose problems for the hapless surfer." ( http://www.benedict.com/)

What is protected on the World Wide Web?
The specific design of a Web page and the following contents are protected by copyright:
-Links
-Original Text
-Graphics
-Audio
-Video
-HTML
-List of Web sites compiled by an individual or organization
-All other unique elements that make up the original nature of the material.

When creating a Web page, you CAN:
-Link to other Web sites.
-Use free graphics on your Web page.

When creating a Web page, you CANNOT:
-Put the contents of another person's or organizations web site on your Web page.
-Copy and paste information together from various Internet sources to create "your own" document.
-Incorporate other people's electronic material, such as e-mail, in your own document, without permission.
-Forward someone's e-mail to another recipient without permission.
-Change the context of or edit someone else's digital correspondence in a way which changes the meaning.
-Copy and paste others' lists of resources on your own Web page.
-Copy and paste logos, icons, and other graphics from other web sites to your Web page.

Information taken from:
Montecino, V. (1996). Copyright and the Internet. Retrieved September 25, 2008, from
http://mason.gmu.edu/~montecin/copyright-internet.htm

4 comments:

J. Urick said...

Are you allowed to use information from another website if you do a citation?

Jamie A. Lewis said...

I will be addressing that in my next post. The funny thing is there really aren't a specific set of guidelines for information taken from the Internet. Instead, since you can get all types of media, pictures, graphics, writings, music, computer software, etc. ALL of the established copyright guidelines can apply somewhat. That's why the Internet and copyright has so many unresolved issues and continues to be in a state of flux. I would say if the media that you are trying to use has a specific copyright guideline, use that first, but as long as something is cited (for example in a paper or presentation) and proper credit is given, I would imagine you can use it. I'll post a more specific answer in my next posting.

Andromeda Jazmon said...

This is really interesting. I find that blogs quote other blogs and websites quite freely, hopefully (usually?) with a link pointing to the original poster (author). My understanding of netiquette is that as long as you link to the source and give attribution you can quote reasonable passages. Were you talking about copy and pasting whole sections of text, like the whole page? Or would a paragraph or list of links qualify for copyright infringement? So many questions!

Jamie A. Lewis said...

I would say to always provide a link regardless so that proper citation is given!