I’ve been following a number of blogs related to the industry I’m targeting and have seen some very relevant posts. This may seem like a rookie question but I was wondering if there is some kind of etiquette relating to re-posting articles. Is it okay to simply click the share button if they have one or it is courtesy to contact the author first before grabbing their post to put on my site? 

I want to raise an issue here to which I would love a clear answer… Someone, please tell us!!!

What is the effect of reposting given the rules of Google Panda which frowns upon “content farming”. How does Google differentiate legitimate, authorized, credited, value-added re-posting as opposed to content farming which has the single purpose of posting content for SEO purposes?

Great topic. If I have a blog that I use as the anchor to a  monthly e-newsletter, yet I don’t always have the time to put together my own penned content, do I face any legal issues with reposting articles to my e-newletter and blog site? As mentioned above by @ptwylie, am I doing anything wrong if I don’t always have the time to “add my own slant”? Also, can I repost the entire article or only a portion of it?

I don’t think it’s a good idea at all.  The web is built on the concept of linking, not stealing.  If you see something that’s of interest to you by all means link to it, maybe even quote a small portion of it, but then add your own thoughts to the article.  Taking the whole thing is not cool at all.

@cherelleleong @ptwylie Definitely ask the blog owner first before reposting their article.  While some welcome this kind of thing, others prefer only having their full post on their own site.

@cherelleleong I agree with a lot that has been said on this topic. Out of my perspective as a journalist there’s an important issue about other people’s content – the intellectual property. If you stick to that concept you won’t repost entire articles, nor parts of it.

@cherelleleong @ptwylie @leifstreet

Hey folks.

Just wanted to chime in here.

It is fully unethical and copyright infringement to repost someone else’s blog post without permission.  Period.

There is no question, it is wrong and it is tantamount to stealing.

At SME we ask folks to only take up to three paragraphs at most and then link back to the article (unless they are the author of that article).

For some reason, there is rather large contingency of bloggers who steal, on a daily basis, from other bloggers and see absolutely nothing wrong with it.  They write it off as “offering link backs to the original content.”

But in reality that is a lie.  It is all about being lazy and taking what someone else worked hard on stealing it so they can build up an audience and sell their junk.

The ugly truth is 99% of blog linkbacks mean absolutely nothing to search engines.  This means there is ZERO SEO benefit to having your article published in many places.

So, I say this to all of you who labor to create original content.  DEFEND your rights and demand all content that is republished without permission to be removed immediately.

PLUS HERE’S A TRICK: Always include a link in every article you publish to another article on your site.  This will trigger trackbacks on most blogs that auto notifies you when people have stolen your content.

Thoughts??

@mike-stelzner That’s a great tip Mike adding a link to each article to another article on your site is good for  SEO too.   

@gusvdw45 simple, no, no, no and no. If you are going to blog on a subject you just read an article on because it struck a vein of curiosity or a particular chord with you that’s fine but write your own thoughts yourself. Quote them sure, talk about what they are saying, provide a link to the original article giving credit to the original author. Make sure you are putting out original thoughts.  Always remember the golden rule. Do you want someone taking credit for your work?

Always assume there is an automatic copyright on every blog entry out there (because there is in all actuality) and guard your content, show courtesy to others.

Thanks  @mike-stelzner  @ecumenix  @erikdeckers @adigaskell @ptwylie! This is why I like this group…the feedback is relevant. 

When I asked the question I did so because I do not want to a) put my company in an unethical situation, b) do not want to be perceived as skeevy (thx  @erikdeckers), c) do not want to do anything personally or professionally that would be considered copyright infringement.

Terrific feedback.

I do agree with you there. It is sad to think that people who are practicing this are enjoying the benefits. I guess effort fell out the window. 

But to make it worse these guys take one article spin it ten different was and post it on the sites at different times to try fool the SERPs. I built my blog to try disprove the theory. I’m by no means an expert in any of the SEO or blogging matters but i like to write. I like to learn. I like to form my own idea or opinion of it and then share it.

Hopefully Google and the others will start to see between the lines and punish the sites. 

BTW, imagine my horror when I discovered a business partner had lied to me about where the graphics and articles that appeared on our company website came from..

I was told they were all original and had been bought and paid for. That was true… but not by my business partner.

Imagine my horror later when I discovered OUR original graphics appeared in Social Media Examiner’s annual marketing report.

O M G !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That was because they belonged to Mike Stelzner’s Social Media Examiner. And, yes, of course I told Mike.

I have zero tolerance for violators. Still, it is NOT hard to be misled… even by a trusted partner falsely claiming ownership. 

I mean “former” partner.

Robin Carlisle

Hi…This is my first post here in the SME blogg community.  The above issue of creating copyright infringement deterrents seems ripe for the picking. I’ll add a few points to Robin’s thoughts here before asking my blog question.

While I am Canadian, and our law is derived from the British format, to my knowledge it is possible for a motivated and prepared self-represented lay litigant to appear in the Courts anywhere. In fact in present day there are many all around the world doing it. It is a growing phenomenon!

My wife and I self-represented and defeated the banksters at CIBC in a 2001 decision in Superior Court in Ontario. Katherine Southern, wrote a screenplay and then the book – The David And Golliath Factor — available through Amazon.com

The “ticked off reaction with the system is shifting in response to the demand of the masses in a variety of ways. For example; mediation by ‘retired’ judges who are available and ready to fill a need which can be respectfully and properly presented. The legal system is morphing with the rest of our world. We wrote this book as inspiration to others to show a successful way through what can seem like a daunting task. It is very challenging…but totally doable as the system’s language and tolerances are transforming beyond what most would believe.

@lifeforce5  Bob, I commend you for taking on Goliath, but though the tide may seem to be turning in Canada, my more than a decade of work as a volunteer legal advocate in the States tells me that that notion only gives false hopes and many heartaches to those who try to battle Goliath in USA courts… especially those who have little money and can ill afford the loss they will surely suffer.

Depending on the legal issue, if someone is poor here, and their tell of woe catches the ear and grabs the heart of an empathetic pro bono (free) attorney or free law clinic whose whole mission is to help the poor… then, yeah, they may have a slight chance at justice.

But there are NO pro bono attorneys or law clinics for legal business issues such as “copyright infringement” or theft of intellectual property. And there never will be. These are “business” issues. Businesses make profits or they are nonprofits. No attorney in the world “donates” their time to profit-making businesses. It’s just not done. They may barter or trade services or products with each other, but no business “donates” anything to another “profit-making” business. What would be the point?

And as far as those with tales of woe… only a tiny fraction… less than 1%… are ever helped with the assistance of a pro bono attorney. The rest walk or run away from the issue that plagues, stalks or haunts them.

As far as the odds of winning a civil case in a court of law WITH the assistance of a qualified attorney… the odds are slim… waaaaaaaaay LESS than 50%, even though you’d think differently. That’s the FIRST thing any licensed attorney will tell you, so you enter a contract with them with reasonable expectations. Most will tell you your chances are better at hitting the jackpot in Las Vegas than they are in winning whatever it is you WANT to win in any civil lawsuit, regardless of the issue. That’s just being honest.

The odds of winning a case WITHOUT an attorney on your own… a gnat would have a better chance of living 100 years.

So to you, my friend, I give congratulations… for defeating Goliath without spending any money and without any professional help. But that fact should not give false courage to anyone else that duplicating your victory without help of court-sanctioned licensed professionals (or even WITH them) is possible… at all.

It only gives credence to the FACT that you are an incredibly tenacious, remarkable man!!!!!! And to your amazing, one-of-a-kind destiny… Others, the other 99.9999999% of all others… however unfortunate or fortunate… will never be you… nor share your incredible victory.

So we STILL need an operable administrative method to process bulk copyright infringement cases in courts, especially in the USA.

Just my thoughts, Bob …

Robin Carlisle