Mary's NET11 Blog

This task required me to read about copyright on the Internet, and then answer the two following questions:

• Have you used images or words on your web page or website that contravene copyright laws?

I haven't used any images or words on this learning log or on my Curtin webCT student page that contravene copyright laws.

Any images used in my learning log have been drawn/created by me, and all text written by me. If any other information has been used to form my view on an issue, I have referenced the sources at the end of each post.

The template I am using for my learning log has been used in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 Licence. That means that I am free to share or adapt the template, so long as I attribute the original author in some way. (in this case by the link at the bottom of this blog, showing that the template was designed by conzep.com).

My webCT student page uses a background image that I didn't create, however when I downloaded the image, the author offered it for use on any Web site, provided that a link back was provided. I linked back to the author in the footer of my page.

• Would you be in breach of copyright if you put the Curtin logo at the top of your web page for an assignment?

Yes.

I feel that after reading about copyright on the Copyright Website and also Copyright at Curtin that putting the Curtin logo at the top of a Web page for an assignment would not be acceptable.

If I did feel I needed the Curtin logo at the top of my Web page for an assignment, I would first have to contact Curtin and gain the necessary permission from them to include their logo on my Web page.

Reading about Copyright also reminded me of a post on the NET11 webCT discussion boards 'Blogging for Assignment 3' where we discussed if it was good netiquette to ask before you linked to someone else's blog. The Copyright Website had some good advice in regards to this issue:

"As it stands now, there appears to be a doctrine of implied public access on the
Web. The Web was created on the basis of being able to attach hypertext links to
any other location on the Web. Consequently, by putting yourself on the Web, you
have given implied permission to others to link to your Web page, and everyone
else on the Web is deemed to have given you implied permission to link to their
Web pages.¹" -(Copyright Website, n.d.)

In my personal experience this does hold true, as whenever I create a link to a site, I don't go and specifically ask them for permission, unless they have written on their Web site that they want people to ask them before linking.

This has happened once to me, as in a post for my NED11 studies I wanted to link to Hobbes' Internet Timeline. However, he had specified on his page that you should ask permission before linking. So I emailed and asked for his permission to link to his Web site - and it was graciously granted.

Here is the post in which I linked to Hobbes' Internet Timeline.

The more study I do, the more I realise what an important issue copyright is, and that it is essential to understand exactly what copyright rules are relevant on the World Wide Web.

- Mary

References

¹ Copyright Website. (n.d.). Website linking issues. Retrieved April 11, 2007, from http://www.benedict.com/Digital/Web/WebLinks.aspx

Labels: Module 3