Copyrights on the Web

As I am still on the topic of ethics, my research led led me to an article written by Kristina Pfaff-Harris, she states that with the Internet readily available to many, the global accessibility of online resources brings up many issues in how these resources can be used. One of the more common issues is that of copyrights. Many people see work published on the Internet as public domain, and do not view it in the same light as the same material published on paper.

While copyrights exist not to restrict access to works but as an incentive for creators to retain control over their works and therefore keep creating more works, we need to understand they exist for good reason. For example, if my works were constantly used without my permission and plagiarized, I would be very frustrated and may stop creating further works altogether.

Some guidelines of “Acceptable Use” have been established although this varies in the opinion of many web page creators. For some, "acceptable use" is limited to viewing the pages. For others, it is completely unlimited. In general, linking a page to any other page on the web and adding the title is always acceptable. Putting your work or information on the world wide web is similar to having your phone number listed on yellow pages and since anyone can find it, they can link to it.

But when in doubt about possible copyright infringement, I’d say to ask the site administrator.

References
Pfaff-Harris, K, 1996, Copyright Issues on the Web, viewed 10 February 2011, <http://iteslj.org/Articles/Harris-Copyright.html>