I responded with:
- Should you seek approval before adding a author/blog to your blogroll?
- Do you have any helpful links for bloggers and copyright law?
- Dealing with potential trolls?
1. No need to seek approval to add someone to your own blogroll, but it can't hurt to shoot them a quick e-mail to say "hey, I like your blog, I've added it to my blogroll". Especially if they're like me and have a reciprocal roll (that's a hint, folks...)
2. As far as copyright law, well, really, the best you can do is the "Fair Use" part of copyright law:
Section 107 contains a list of the various purposes for which the reproduction of a particular work may be considered fair, such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Section 107 also sets out four factors to be considered in determining whether or not a particular use is fair:
- The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes
- The nature of the copyrighted work
- The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole
- The effect of the use upon the potential market for, or value of, the copyrighted work
The distinction between fair use and infringement may be unclear and not easily defined. There is no specific number of words, lines, or notes that may safely be taken without permission. Acknowledging the source of the copyrighted material does not substitute for obtaining permission.
Personally, I stick to a "two paragraph rule" - something I picked up many years ago on a political bulletin board. I indent and change the font color so that it is clear which text I am quoting. This is not legal counsel, I am not a lawyer, your mileage may vary, do not remove mattress tags under penalty of law...
3. Trolls. Oddly enough, I don't get very many trolls. Go figure, a 6' tall shaved head biker gun nut doesn't get trolls... ;) Seriously, the best thing to do with trolls is to ignore them. They thrive on attention; deprive them of it and they'll look for other, more reactionary targets.
So, what's your opinion on the above questions?
5 comments:
On the "Trolls" category My method is #1 Define "troll"
For me its anybody who posts comments to inflame or provoke a reaction/seek attention ONLY.
If somebody wants to come to by blog and debate gun control politely and on-topic I welcome them. If somebody wants to disagree with me, I want more of them. If somebody just drops personal attacks, or wanton-hot-button issues, and then vanishes into the shadows so he can watch the sparks fly. That's a troll.
Given that I'm all about discussion and real discourse, I warn them. If they ignore the warning and continue I simply delete any new comments made (I do not do retroactive bans) or tell my blog software that their comments are "Spam" (which is the honest truth)
All the trolls I've got are cowards anyway. Once they realize you won't play with them they find somebody else.
Heck, Jay HAS gotten trolls, but he doesn't play with them, so they don't stay long enough for him to remember!
Trolls? Taste like chicken.
Seek approval? I say "no"; it's your blogroll, do what you want with it.
As for the copyright issues, I'd avoid any media outlet that's affiliated with the Righthaven weasels. This link is a good starting point to read all about them. One of their victims was The Armed Citizen, basically a national version of your DGC. They're back online now.
The key here is that attribution is not a substitute for permission.
I find myself quoting less, instead just posting commentary with link to the original source.
See also:
http://www.righthavenlawsuits.com/
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20101028/15533611640/damn-good-reminder-if-you-run-a-blog-register-for-dmca-protections.shtml
http://bloggingbits.com/dmca-guide-for-bloggers/
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/10/dmca-righthaven-loophole/
http://www.eff.org/issues/bloggers/legal
In regard to trolls, just delete comments that are all in caps, or contain rampant mis-spelling or bad grammar. This should provide a higher rate of trollicide than most pest-control companies can promise.
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