Website Copyright Issues

Have you ever seen a page on a website and thought that it sure would look good on your site? We all have. In order to avoid a copyright issue it is in your best interest to write your own original content on the topic. After all when you put it into your words you are providing your site visitor with a little insight into you as a person.

What About Pictures?

Just as the text of original content is the intellectual property of the author, photos are the property of the photographer. If you are going to have photos on your site (which is highly recommended) make certain that you are the photographer or that you have the photographer’s written permission to use them.

As the owner of a website it is your responsibility not to copy the work and intellectual property of others and publish it on your site. Not only could this result in fines and damages under Copyright Law but could also result in an Ethic Violation under Article 12 of the Code of Ethics.

There is a free program that allows you to check to see if your original content is being copied and displayed on other sites. Got to www.copyscape.com and enter your domain name. When you press go you will be able to see if your original content has been copied. You will also see sites that have the same default content that your site has. Bear in mind that this is only going to function for sites and pages that are indexed.