Day 4: Ethics in Blogging
"Disclosure. Copyright and credit. Plagiarism. Succeeding without selling out. What guidelines must we follow as bloggers--attribution, disclosure, honesty?"
I am a HUGE proponent of integrity and honesty in ALL aspects of life and of course this includes my blog. When we lose the trust of others it is incredibly hard to rebuild. For my own well being and conscience I don't think I could ever use someone else's material knowingly without giving them credit in some way on my blog. It's in part to this that I don't read others reviews prior to reading a book myself. I will scan down to find the final rating someone gave but I won't read the whole review. When I do it inevitably cripples my own thoughts when I try to write my own review and I never want to come across as just spewing out what someone else said regarding their thoughts on a book. NOT COOL!
However, where the line is gray for me is when using pictures from the internet. I became aware during a twitter discussion a few months ago that Google images are also copyrighted. UGH - I had no idea that I needed to source those pictures when using them. And I've used them not just for my blog but also kids school projects and so on. Oops!! How do you know, if it's not marked otherwise, what is and what isn't copyrighted material online?
Lesson learned I suppose is just to cite the source and when possible leave a link to the source on ANYTHING you find on the internet.
Speaking of which.....I suppose I need to have some sort of "copyright notice" on my own blog. I gotta be honest though, some of this "legal" stuff just irritates me as it takes away from the fun stress-free book blogging atmosphere. If everyone could just be honest this wouldn't be an issue...
Interested to read ya'lls thoughts about this subject and your experiences.
I do the same thing. I never read a review of a book before I read and review it myself. I would never knowingly use someone else's work but prefer to be on the safe side. All the legal stuff does take some of the fun because no matter how honest you are, you can't keep up with everything :-) Great Post.
ReplyDeletePictures were my grey area too. I wouldn't take a google image that looks personal but for basic book/product pictures I get scared. Also, the weekly meme pictures that different bloggers create. I am never sure if those need credit given or if enough credit is given by just saying the whole meme is put on by XBlogger.
ReplyDeleteThat is funny!! I thought it was just an odd quirk on my part that I don't EVER read other reviews before I read and review books:))) Lol. Also, I agree about the pics too. I try to watch out for those that have copyright symbols or marks. When I look for clipart, I try to google FREE CLIPART but sometimes that just doesn't work. I have found recently that some actually say PUBLIC DOMAIN. So that helps a bit. Thanks for sharing!!
ReplyDeleteOh, the pictures-I can so relate!! I do use a lot of google pics, but do stay away from those that explicitly state they are copyrighted or having writing all over them. I try to get general pics, but there is no way of knowing. It's a grey area and I think most bloggers aren't doing anything wrong with that. Although, I am starting to add links to the picture if there is one.
ReplyDeleteTo one of your readers:Thanks for the "public domain" tip-Cindi!!! I didn't know!!
There is a way to narrow your search for images with no licensing issues on Google. Under "advanced search" there's a field labeled "usage rights." This should help with google image searches at least.
ReplyDeleteI am so clueless when it comes to pictures. I try not to use any at all, for fear of copyrights. Once in awhile I will use a GIF though. And I worry about that. *sigh*
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by my post!
~Sara @ Forever 17 Books