From opinions and ideas to stories and photographs, you can publish anything online, anytime. You can upload material on your own blogs, web pages and social network sites or leave comments on other people's web pages. But there still are some rules to the game. Remember these basic copyright laws to insure that you are protected against plagiarism and libel:
1. Quote someone's work carefully
The Copyright Act defines that short quotations of another person's work for the purpose of criticism, commentary or news reporting are considered “fair use”. Along with the quote you can credit the author as well as provide a link to their website or blog. Never copy and paste an entire article of someone else's - this is plagiarism.
2. Use materials not subject to Copyright
There are many classes of materials that can not be protected under the Copyright Law. These include names, familiar symbols, listing of ingredients or contents, short phrases, titles, slogans and procedures. Some of these might be protected by trademark, though. You are free to use any work that is in public domain as well.
3. Work with facts and ideas
Copyright Law protects the expression of facts and ideas, not the facts themselves. You are free to use facts and ideas reported by others. You can even use a company's name or logo to criticize or analyze it as long as you are not deceiving people into believing that you are speaking on behalf of the company.
4. All published work is right protected
Do not copy material just because it does not show a copyright message. The Copyright Law states that every published work, be it on paper or digital media, automatically gets copyright protection. Also, do not assume that if you credit the author there is no copyright infringement.
5. Images are covered by law
Photographs and videos are governed by the same law that governs the publishing of words. Even if it is not for commercial use, do not copy images and words. You can only use copyrighted material if you have explicit permission from the author to do so.
When you comment on a blog for the purpose of public display, you are probably giving an implied license at least for that display and the incidental copying that goes along with it. This does not, however, permit one to defame another, or entirely copy someone else's work. The bottom-line is: be cautious and blog away!
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