Writing for the web creates a lot of new questions about who owns all those words circulating out there on web sites, in ezines and in ebooks. What about the CD's created from many of those words in all those digital forms all over the web? Instead of books or articles or columns, it's all being re- named "Content".
In a 2nd Circuit Court decision last year, six freelance writers won a case against the New York Times, Newsday and Time for copyright infringement. Their work was re-sold as digital content on a CDROM and later published on the web.
Their claim that they did NOT relicense their work for use on the web or in digital compilations and were entitled to compensation when that content was re-sold was accepted by the court in a judgement against the original publishers of that content.
Many writers online offer their articles "Free" for use on the web, in ezines or in ebooks available online. But in fact are being paid by the publishers by requiring that "resource boxes" be used, such as the four line blurb following this article. This is, in fact, a form of payment and is agreed to by those writers in exchange for the traffic, publicity, subscriptions and exposure gained when readers visit the authors web site, subscribe to their ezine or see advertise- ments run for a fee on their web site.
"Content" is proliferating, professional "paid" writers work is becoming less valuable online and some professionals are shouting, "ENOUGH! We want to be paid for our work!"
An article this week at "Ezine-Tips.com" discusses how to raise the ire of any professional writer by asking them to write for free.
In an earlier article by the same author, (Janet Roberts, associate editor of "List-Universe.com") many articles by online writers are labeled "advertising in disguise".
I'll buy that definition in many cases. I'll buy it in this case. I'm advertising my weekly newsletter and my web site by offering opinion and insight on the web. And it works! I've written openly and widely that content I provide is just like an ad for my web site and my business.
http://www.workz.com/content/1680.asp
Advertisers pay to have their ads appear in my newsletter and on my web site. You might say that my "advertising in disguise" attracts advertising to support my advertising if you want to see that advertising as inherently wrong.
But I'll also ask then why is it that my articles are well read and syndicated across many networks of web sites and ezines. I run a business content distribution service called "Free-Content" at:
http://yahoogroups.com/group/Free-Content
Over 500 well respected writers and publishers subscribe to that list and publish articles distributed there. I'm about to expand that service into additional topics and expect all to be just as successful as the business content list.
It's not advertising, it's content, it's free and I am a professional. What does that all mean? I leave it to you to decide.
Mike Banks Valentine WebSite101 "Reading List" Weekly Netrepreneur Tip Sheet Weekly Ezine emphasizing small business on the Internet Subscribe address mailto:WebSite101-subscribe@listbot.com articles available: http://website101.com/freecontent.html
