It's the Internet - There Is No Copyright, Right?
Publishing and copyrights have always gone hand-in-hand. Publishing on the Internet, however, has opened up new issues about copyrights that the legal system is just beginning to deal with. Even though every aspect of copyright law isnt crystal clear regarding publishing on the Internet, there are still some basic rules that apply.
The whole idea behind the Internet is access to fast and inexpensive information. Though this may be true, it doesnt mean that you have the right to use all the information you have access to. Information in the public domain is there for the taking. You will find that government Web sites fit into this category. Most commercial and many personal sites, however, will contain copyrighted information. Copyright law requires that a protected site carry the copyright mark. Even if you dont see a mark, its still best to assume that the material is protected and seek written permission if you want to use it for your own purposes.
Of course, most Web surfers argue that if its there for all to read, why is it a case of copyright infringement if I download it? To answer that question, you need to understand why a writer seeks a copyright in the first place. A copyright is designed to protect a writers right to the revenue generated from what she has written. If you download material that you subscribe to and forward it to other people who may derive benefit from the information without having paid for it, you have infringed on the authors copyright. Even though you may have paid for access to the material, the writer lost revenue from all of the people who didnt.
Another important aspect of copyright protection is the ability to control when and where your material is used. If you link to someones copyrighted Web site without first getting written permission to do so, you have infringed on their copyright because you have taken away their control over where their material is used.
Copyright vulnerability is also affected by research. Web research has almost replaced more traditional research sources, like books. Its fine to quote copyrighted material in your article, just as long as you give the proper credit to your source. To avoid this problem, many frequently quoted copyrighted sites have a blurb that follows an article where specific instructions are given on how to write the source citation so as not to violate their copyright. An important protection of a copyright is to be given due credit for your ideas. If you dont quote the source, you take away the authors rights in this respect.
Finally, under no circumstances can you alter copyrighted material without written permission to do so. This is different from the permission you obtained to use the material in the first place. Permission to use material implies that it will be used as is. It is imperative that you get separate permission to alter the material in any way. Otherwise, despite your original permission, you are in copyright violation.