I Guess Some Tumblr People Never Got the Memo

Copyright infringement and Tumblr.  Or any social media, for that matter.  A work's original ownership can get lost in the vast world of reblogging, reposting, and repinning.  And we've seen it: that uplifting quote, that really snazzy article, and that beautifully inspirational Santorini sunset, although gain substantial popularity, are thrown in the big pot of Fair Use and who knows who the real authors are?

And will they ever get the acknowledgement that they deserve?

Who do you belong to, gorgeous Santorini sunset?

As a creative person, my works are like my children, and it can be bothersome if they travel through the complex matrices of the Internet and I don't know where and with whom they end up with.  Yes, I'd like the world to know that my "children" have a "Mama" and it's me, thank you very much.

So, here are three ways to mitigate copyright infringement in social media:

1. Check the original content for copyright notices and information on how the content could be used.  Obtaining permission from the author is the best in making sure infringement does not happen (Gray & Day 2013).
2. Post a link to the original source of the content instead of posting the content directly on a social media page (Gray & Day 2013).
3. Finally, simply post your own original work (Sanders 2012).

As an educator, I would teach my students this information- that the Internet and their social media is not supposed to be an anarchy where original ownership die and no-talent-Bob suddenly becomes the next Hemingway or Picasso.  There are rules and regulations to follow, not only because we don't want to be punished, but because of the respect that we have for the person behind that creative mind and those hardworking hands.


References

Gray, T. & Day, N. (2013). Sharing copyrighted content on social media: Fair use or infringement?  ColoradoBiz.  Retrieved from https://www.cobizmag.com/articles/sharing-copyrighted-content-on-social-media.

Sanders, K. (2012). Here's how to avoid copyright problems on Pinterest or Tumblr. Business Insider. Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/how-social-media-sites-like-pinterest-and-tumblr-can-avoid-legal-trouble-for-copyrighted-work-2012-3.


Image:

Santorini sunset retrieved from http://static.tumblr.com/285c05f587bb4c8b253681c223375533/dt5nz78/nypmgxgz6/tumblr_static_ghb.jpg.