6) “If I pay someone to create graphics for my Web site, I own copyright to those graphics.”

Not necessarily. Unless your agreement with graphic artist explicitly states that upon your payment all of their rights are then transferred to you, you most likely only have exclusive license to use those graphics. And to purchase full copyright will cost you a bunch more than simple exclusivity!

Understand that moment anything is created whether it be written or drawn, creator owns copyright ­ that’s law. Over years I've had clients claim they own copyright just because they paid me to create this or that. It simply, legally, is not case (and my contract(s) clearly state this - including their option to purchase my copyright if they so choose).

Copyright can _only_ be transferred in a written legally binding agreement signed by creator of work stating they are transferring their rights to you. Saying you own it because you paid for it doesn't make it legal fact. If you do not have a written agreement specifically transferring copyright to you, you do not own copyright to those graphics.

7) “E-mail is not copyright protected once it is sent.”

E-mail is a written work that once created is copyright protected by author. This means you cannot post publicly an e-mail sent to you privately. You cannot post private e-mails to your site, to message boards or to your blog without author’s specific permission to do so.

Just because an e-mail was sent to you as a private communication does not mean you then own it and can do with it what you like. In addition, e-mail that is posted to a group of people, on a mailing list or Newsgroup does not make e-mail available for reposting, copying, or any other use - not without express and written consent of writer.

What's bottom line with online copyright?

Courtesy! Don't assume that you can use, repost or take anything you find online simply because you can. Be a courteous Netizen and always ask first!

You might be interested to find a DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) page and policy statement on your ISP and hosting provider’s Web sites to handle complaints and reports of above types of copyright abuse. Take some time to read that information and make yourself aware of your rights and make sure you do not infringe on others. The main resource for all legal mumbo jumbo on online copyright and DMCA is on Government’s site @ http://www.copyright.gov.

Again, I am not an attorney nor am I providing legal advice. I hope I've informed you of some of issues that need to be seriously considered by all who are online whether they are creating their own or using others creative or written works.

How can this help a marketer? For starters, think of relationship building possibilities. Your customers and others can, in effect, help you build your pages, and really feel like they're part of your business. That will not only help establish your site as a valuable source of information in your field, but with regular wiki updates, your site will continually offer fresh spider food for search engines. Another example - think how nice it would be to have your documentation and support forum modified and updated by your users themselves.

There are already lots of wikis on every topic imaginable. If you want to be on front of this trend, check them out now!

John Calder is the owner/editor of The Ezine Dot Net. Subscribe Today and get real information YOU can use to help build your online business today! http://www.TheEzine.Net

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