How The Term "Content Creator" Is Subjective
So What Is A Content Creator?
There is a lot of talk about content creation and content creators. What people usually think that a content creator is is someone who creates original content to be used on the Internet. Content creation can also be a collaborative effort with multiple creators being involved. It could be a blog entry written by one person that displays an image created by a different person. Both are content creators.
All websites need content, as well as blogs. Videos on YouTube are also content that's been created by somebody somewhere. Instagram posts can be considered content, as well as posts on other social networking platforms. Content creations are not only all over the Internet but they are the primary reason people go on the Internet.
Below is an image I created for one of my websites. The website contains many images and lots of text. Some of the text is public domain. For example, I have many classic poems on the site. About 1,800 poems or so. Public domain basically means that anyone can use it without it being a copyright violation and can be used without permission. Poems from the eighteen hundreds fall into that category because they are so old. The website also contains articles created by myself. I also created music lessons for various instruments. It is a site that consists of over 3,000 pages. I created most of the images on the site. The rest are public domain.
Unethical Use Of Content Created By Others
There are instances of what I consider to be unethical use of content. The first is the use of content created by someone else without their permission. Content that is also not public domain. People work hard to create their own original content. Nothing is more unfair than for someone posting it on the Internet without their permission. That doesn't include the sharing on social media sites of someone else's post. There's nothing wrong with that. It's when you post something on your social media page that isn't a share of the creator's post. Because the creator deserves the credit for his or her creation or original post.
I have a section on the website I mentioned above that provides lessons in balalaika chords. I created the lessons and the images. All my creation, and it's not public domain. Which means its not free to be used by anyone else without my permission. Well I did a Google search using the term "Balalaika Chords By Key" to see where my site would rank. In the past, I was on the top of the page of results. I occasionally do this to see the current ranking. But one time I saw one that outranked mine but had an image created by me. It was from a PDF file on SCRIBD.com. It was posted there without my permission. Posted here: https://www.scribd.com/doc/297196585/Basic-Balalaika-Chords#. And it was uploaded to the site by someone listed as Bogdan Tudose. He's uploaded other things as well. I don't know if they were something else he may have used without permission. But in my case, he never asked for permission from me.
So I went to the site and saw it was all my creation. My original image and all the rest, word for word. Like someone did a screenshot of every page in that section of my site. But the real kicker was the fact that they had a better search engine ranking and showed up higher in the search results. Here is a link to my site where that feature is: http://drpsychotic.com/balalaika/chart_explain.html. If you compare the two, you should easily be able to see the similarities.
Some Quick Information About Copyrights
On the US copyright website, there is a question and answer section. One of the questions on the site is the the one displayed below and it includes the answer to the question.
"Do I have to register with your office to be protected?
No. In general, registration is voluntary. Copyright exists from the moment the work is created"
No. In general, registration is voluntary. Copyright exists from the moment the work is created"
Now if you want to do a lawsuit, you will need to register your work. However, you can publicly claim your work was used without permission and list the people who used your work. If they claim that your accusation is false and want to sue you for making the accusation publicly, the burden of proof is on them. That means they have to prove that what I am saying is not true. Pretty damn hard since my web host can go back to the time it was originally posted on my site. They keep backups.
Use Of Embed Code
Embed code from someone else's creation is fair game as far as I'm concerned. The reason is that, for example, any post on Instagram or YouTube has embed code that someone could use to incorporate it into their website or blog. A lot people know that going in. If you don't want people using embed code that displays your work on their site or blog, then simply take your work off of the platforms that include embed code of your works. Unfortunately that just means your work is seen by less people.
Another thing about embed code is that it at least gives credit to the creator and provides a link to the creator's page, where more of their works can be seen. This could be a great source of free promotion. So you get credit for your work and free promotion. That sounds good to me. Below, I have included an example of the use of embed code. It is from an Instagram post of mine.
The Lack Of Creativity Of Some So-Called Content Creators
Some people like to call themselves content creators even though just about everything they upload to the Internet is either highly derivative or outright stolen, Some of the "content" they create is just glorified advertisements passed off as content. Just trying to sell some service or product. One good one is selling you some service that gives you access to a site that instructs you on how to get more views or followers on Instagram or other platforms.
I've been to one of those sites. And they basically instruct you how to rip off other people's ideas on Instagram and post it yourself to get more Instagram followers, more views and more likes. Then you can be a "content creator" too. I don't thing that's right or ethical. Some may disagree and that's fine. That's how I feel about it.
There is nothing ethically wrong with creating something you call content that is just a little more than an advertisement. It's just that a lot of them rank very high and show high in your feed. It pushes things you may have much more interest in lower in your feed. That irritates me.
In Conclusion
I consider myself a pretty good content creator. I can create original images, original articles, my own websites and so forth. However, I openly admit that I do, on occasion, use some public domain works created by others. But use of public domain works is ethical. And when I do use those public domain works, I list the creator or the source. In some of my blog posts I will give some ideas about content creation you could try yourself. I hope you enjoyed this post or found it to be informational. If you liked it, please tell people about it or post it on your social media pages. Thanks for reading it.
Bob Craypoe
No comments:
Post a Comment