Having our thoughts and opinions challenged can give us new perspectives if we are open to it. It sounds like you are open to the challenge and willing to change if it is found that your in the wrong. I like to see people who are capable of this type of personal growth. Hopefully everything will work out with you guys and we can continue to support each other here.
It is my understanding that as long as you give proper attribution to the source content then it is OK to post (I could be wrong). Memes fall under creative commons for creating spoofs or satires...or something like that...
This is where I think @steemcleaners is doing the community a disservice.
It must be understood. Plagiarism is using intellectual property without the consent of the owner/creator. This includes text, photos, music, etc. Anything created that is not a tangible object is the very short definition of intellectual property (IP).
When a person browses the Internet and decides to use a photo/image that they personally did not produce they are opening themselves up to the risk of a lawsuit for theft of IP.
Linking back to that source just provides the owner of the IP the pathway back to the thief.
Memes are risky business, too. Yes derivative art has a place but if it can be proven that a blogger stole the art and decreased it's value ... yadda yadda.
That said, in today's world there are a many many sites where artists give their work up for derivative art and for use in illustrative support for blogging, etc. There is no reason to go looking for hassles.
I'm calling @steemcleeners out on this because they do perpetuate this myth that linking back to the source means the blogger is free and clear. Nothing could be further from the truth.
unfortunately steemcleaners and this site overall tends to confuse censorship with abuse and have no mechanism of helping people or deterring people from downvoting flagrantly or posting plagiarized content [esp sine sources like this tumblr that stole this content for me is an accepted source around here>< ]
as we all saw downvoting said account to oblivion..does nothing to vote power. this is a huge problem of steemit. i am also VERY anxious about the ok on plagarism and abuse. that is going to fuck steemit in future when this platform really starts to take off. It seems to go against steemits entire platform values to allow abuse and plagiarism on a site that claims to value original content creators.
no ones woried yet...but all it would take is enough posts making enough $ off plagiarized work and you have a lovely lawsuit against the site itself! Forget the individual creators a lawyer would go after the whole site for plagiarism especially since theres $ to be made. This place isnt like fb or twitter you can't share other people shit and claim "fair use" cause you 1. aren't adding to it and 2. are making $ off of it.
I am just waiting for one of the big porn studios to catch wind of steemit and come for us....>>
so ya i really hope steemit figures out a way to deal with this [maybe make it a rule that all work needs to original or at least be more than just copy pasting and sourcing?]
or i feel like we'll go the way of the silk road...a lack of regulation give a lawyer or a government tons of room to demonize and find a way to shut it down.
I understand the legality of it. You are right that it is theft of intellectual property. It's just that it is usually not worth the cost of prosecution. Unless you have a lawyer who is working for free. In most cases...the only time there is usually a law suit is if it makes a large enough profit to merit the time and cost of taking it to court OR if it is deemed harmful to the brand/person/company. Such as slander or negative publicity that can be proven to hurt company images or bottom lines.
So the thinking from my viewpoint only! If someone were to steel my work then at least offer my contribution as the author so that if people like it they will be able to look me up. In this way any profit will be seen as my payment to you for marketing :P
I know that is not the thinking of all creators and artists. I am NOT saying it is "morally" right or "ethically" right. But everyone has a differing view on morality and ethics.
In Conclusion I would say "DON'T STEEL"!!!!!
There are plenty of freebies out there now days that can be monetized with a simple creative commons attribution.
Overall, I agree.
In actuality, there's getting to be some real nastiness wherein lawyers are finding ways to be profitable. Go figure.
And technically there's a greater risk of reputation damage to the blogger.
If I see someone going around randomly lifting photos, I'm automatically assuming they also lift text. I also assume they aren't spending a great deal of time being original.
And, companies are getting tired of doing dmca paperwork. I saw one that was willing to shut me down without research if they got a complaint. I kept moving. Some protections actually create the opportunity for abuse.
So it's not really just about lawsuits. It's also about preserving reputation and protecting one's own IP from takedown.
Woot