Copyright and Steemit. What happens when this place gets big? Could posters be liable?
Copyright and Social media
Reposting of content without attribution is rife on social media sites like Twitter, Facebook and Reddit, though it rarely becomes a big deal, because unless a post becomes highly upvoted it is likely to be ignored, and if it does become successful, somebody will typically chime in pointing out that OP is a liar. What happens though when posts - even relatively un-noticed ones - become worth money?
Enter Steemit
Steemit differentiates itself from its main social media competitors in two key ways. The first, and most obvious, is the integration of the Steem currency into the platform. To put it simply, users get paid for good content.
The second, and more overlooked difference is Steemit's free-form post style. Compared to Facebook or Reddit's restrictive post and comment systems, Steemit users are free to utilize rich formatting, image, gif, and even video embeds.
Steemit users quickly noticed that posts without thumbnail images are far less visible in the queue, and therefore less likely to get upvoted, so it quickly became standard practice to include at least one title image in a post. This has lead to many users simply performing a Google image search for a subject, and embedding the first result in their post, regardless of ownership or copyright.
What happens when the owner of that image finds Steemit, and finds out the post their image was used for earned $2000?
For that matter, what about the users simply posting other people's YouTube videos?
It's a bit different from sharing it on Facebook when you're getting paid for it, and if this place becomes as big as Facebook, as some have suggested it might, things are going to start getting complicated when copyright owners come for their cut of the money. Maybe it'll never happen.. but maybe it's a quietly ticking timebomb.
A Solution - Creative Commons media
There are masses of no-strings-attached resources (including, ironically, the copyright logo I'm using in this post) available for free under a Creative Commons license, which, provided it has the correct licensing, can be used for any purpose, including making money. This means you can use this stuff without worrying about someone sending their lawyers after you years down the line for using an obscure photo somewhere.
Just some thoughts on the matter. If you have any ideas about the direction this could go please let me know in the comments
I've thought about this too. I've seen posts where people post about how beautiful place is, but it isn't clear if THEY were the person that made the photograph of the place.
I've seen some posts where the poster kind of dances around it. They imply that it's theirs, but never actually say it, and if you look through their previous posts, it often turns out they have a lot which follow that pattern
You have a good point to think about
I've wondered this myself. If someone is able to crank out $10,000 from a post, what if an image or a Youtube video being used doesn't belong to the poster? The person trying on Youtube to make money from that video could conceivably become pretty stinking angry. I know I probably would.
Exactly. Usually on sites like Reddit, it's not a problem unless the person posting the video claims ownership when it's not actually theirs. Reddit Karma is worth nothing, so it's no big deal if someone rips off someone else's content and gets highly upvoted for it, but on Steemit that could be a really big problem.
Even without the issue of claiming ownership, that raises the question of whether it's ok to post "Here's a cool YouTube video I found" type posts, or whether everything on here should be strictly original content, or public domain.
I suppose those are questions which will have to be answered one way or another if this place makes it big
winstonwolfe and zarjaz? This is my understanding of the law, but don't hold me to it, because I'm still in the learning process on this topic myself. If you embed a YouTube video into your Steemit article (post) that belongs to someone else, then you are not violating any copyright law inasmuch as you are sending business in that YouTuber's direction. Moreover, if the website where you are embedding a YouTube video belonging to someone else into an article that you are publishing has some kind of agreement with YouTube, then I presume that you are safe to embed any YouTube video you wish in your articles. However, if you DOWNLOAD a YouTube video on your own website and claim it as your own, then you are in clear violation of the copyright laws.
Can you tell me if its legal to share here videos from youtube?
animations or thing i think are interesting... obviously im asking about videos that are not my creation...
Thanks for any info you can give me!
While you didn't provide a solution to the problem, you have rightly pointed out the time bomb.
It will become a problem when a post becomes viral and bringing monetary value. I was hoping Steem has a solution to it (just like every other components in this unique blockchain).