Sometimes we simply make too many assumptions.
That is particularly true when it comes to the understanding people have about what they unabashedly post on social media pages, public and private. Libel, slander and copyright violations seem to be on the uptick, with people confusing the three with rights of free speech, assuming they have liberal rein to post what they want, when they want, sometimes hiding behind a guise of anonymity, other times throwing it out there under their own name.
In some cases, people simply don’t know when they step over the line of legality or civility; in other cases, people know and do it anyway.
Either way, we want to try to make it clear, as it pertains to our newspaper, or, for that matter, any newspaper, and violations of copyright.
Posting entire newspaper pages or entire stories on a social media page is a direct violation of copyright law. It is akin to buying a copy of a John Grisham novel, taking photos of the first chapter and then posting it for all your friends to read and share.
It’s theft of property.
The newspaper is a business. Our paper is a product. And while we make every effort to provide a service to the public by being the eyes and ears of a community, what we write and how we determine to share it is our decision to make. We often provide most of our news both in print, to subscribers and daily rack buyers, and online, where whole or portions of stories can be found and links share, but we do make some things exclusive to the printed paper. That is usually true when writers spend inordinate amounts of time researching or covering major events, like trials or in-depth stories on water issues or devastating tragedies.
And when it’s exclusive, that’s exactly what it means — exclusive to those who either subscribe to our paper or choose to purchase one at the rack, again just like a person chooses to buy a novel to read more than the cover or the jacket.
It is not a disregard of free speech as some would have you believe. There is a huge difference between free speech and violations of copyright.
For some reason, social media has skewed a person’s view to believe everything should be handed out and, if not, can and should be shared by another to the masses. That isn’t free speech either. It is theft.
Below are simplistic excerpts from copyrightlaw.gov as it pertains to the laws surrounding the reprinting, posting or use of newspaper material. We hope people will read it and abide by it:
A newspaper is considered copyrighted, meaning that all original material within it, including articles, photographs, and illustrations, are protected under copyright law, and reproducing any significant portion without permission from the publisher is generally considered illegal; however information published before 1923 would be considered part of the public domain
Automatic protection: Copyright applies automatically to any original content created within a newspaper, including individual articles and images.
Collective work: A newspaper is considered a “collective work” as it contains multiple individual contributions compiled together.
Copyright duration: Generally, copyright on a newspaper article lasts for the life of the author plus 70 years.
Public domain: Newspapers published before a certain date (usually considered 1923 in the U.S.) are considered public domain and can be freely used without permission.
Fair use: Certain uses of copyrighted newspaper content, like quoting short excerpts for news reporting or criticism, may be considered “fair use” and not require permission.