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

#copyright #steem #media #photos #posting #tech