Content Ownership...

Most people are aware unique content is like virtual gold in regards to websites. To that end who actually owns the content on a forum or comments on a blog. Google currently grants ownership to content depending where it is indexed first, however this is just one aspect.

What would happen if you wanted all you content back?

Should a disclaimer be added to content to state the poster has full copyright protection over everything they write.

What are your thoughts?
__________________
search engine marketing company | Contract Fabrication | wedding jewellery | promotional water | Quick House Sales | polish jobs | recruitment agency | Mobile Phone Accessories - Printed Carrier Bags

Re : Content Ownership

An interesting question, I have no idea what the answer is. Perhaps if a site has terms and conditions then that could have the power to state they own content people enter, or not as the case may be!

Who knows...

Re : Content Ownership

Hi Chris,

It is an interesting subject one I will be investigating further, I am aware of certain instances where forum posts have been turned into articles by the site owner, resulting in letters from legal representatives.
__________________
search engine marketing company | Contract Fabrication | wedding jewellery | promotional water | Quick House Sales | polish jobs | recruitment agency | Mobile Phone Accessories - Printed Carrier Bags

Re : Content Ownership

This is indeed a very interesting question. The purpose and primary function of the Internet is to share information and ideas and thus, in that spirit it would be a bit mean to all of a sudden demand all of your content back.

On the basis that people read another’s ideas through articles written by them, it would be impractical to retrieve the knowledge gained by the reader. Even if the original article were removed, the transfer of knowledge would remain and might then become the reader’s ideas and articles.

Given that new ideas surface all the time, the fact that shared ones cannot be taken away does not really matter as new ones will always come on stream. These can then be shared or not according to the originators wishes.
__________________
Business Zone | Business Start-up | Company Formation

Re : Content Ownership

Pete

So are you saying if someone wrote a good and unique article on a low traffic site, and then a larger site that gets indexed quicker picked up the site, the larger site would get the 'credit' for the article and the originator would be seen as a duplicate? Doesn't seem very fair!

Chris

Re : Content Ownership

That is right Chris

It is common practise, something Google is looking into, the trouble is how could this be policed?
__________________
search engine marketing company | Contract Fabrication | wedding jewellery | promotional water | Quick House Sales | polish jobs | recruitment agency | Mobile Phone Accessories - Printed Carrier Bags

Re : Content Ownership

Interesting stuff, Peter.

If you were to for whatever reason decide to stop using a forum you had posted on for a while, would you have the right to insist they removed all content you posted for instance?

Tim