Very interesting experience you've had, my friend. You did not give the link though to the post in question. Perhaps providing it will give your readers something to work on so they can share their assessment.

Attribution is very important. I used to follow a self-proclaimed writer in Twitter. He's tweeting lots of amusing quotes. Some are humorous, others thought provoking. I thought him brilliant.

Then one day I read another tweet - same thing my new found writer shared on Twitter. The difference was that this time there was an attribution, but to a different, much more famous writer. I felt shortchanged and betrayed as a follower. No recourse for me but to unfollow my self-proclaimed writer "friend."

So attribution is very important. I hope you sort this problem, my friend. But the fact you did not censor your commenter is a good indication you're sincere and upfront about the whole thing.

Hi Aswani, first me start by congratulating you for your honesty (because you shared this article).

I too take copyright and originality very seriously. And this is even more so in creative writing !! I too believe in credit giving.

Though, I think i know which post u are talking about :).. I dint see it as a major issue here. Anyways to not give anyone a chance to point a finger, you can be more careful next time.

Thanks bro..I know I didn't do it all right but then how can you know make sure that who is the original author actually. Just finding some content one's site doesn't prove it all. I've been doing it very honestly in the past but still..this question often comes in my mind..anyways, I will make sure that this does not happen again here with me :(

Niharika, Thanks! I've been using some content on this blog which to be honest, are really not mine. They belong to others. And whenever I copy content, it is from the same author and to be honest, he publishes stories mostly..tell me, how can those stories be his original...I think it cannot be by anymeans..but still, I have done one thing to still give him the credit..will let you know later ;)

I'm now officially confused.

First, copyright law (in the U.S., and presumably other countries by treaty) does not require that the work include a copyright notice. It's particularly nice if it does, because that puts others on notice that this is not in the public domain. Creative Commons licenses are also nice, because they spell out clearly what a blogger may and may not do with the work - but again, they are not required. Presumption should be "If I did not create this [writing, photo, artwork, etc.] then it is not mine. I must get permission from the creator before I use it in any way."

Now, having said that, it would have a chilling effect on the Web if we could not quote small excerpts and/or link back to the original work. By posting on the Web, we do not grant a broad license to steal - but we do, I think, signal an intent to share the work to some degree. If we upload to YouTube and do not disable the embed feature, then we are granting a license to embed our videos. (If someone else uploads a copyrighted movie, in violation of copyright, that's not the case!) Even if you use an IMG link to someone else's image, I think it's arguably okay - provided you give credit and a link back. The thing being, they maintain control of the image and can always replace it with another, making you look like a fool if they so choose. :-P

It's also okay, in most cases, to give a small excerpt for the purposes of review or critique (e.g., a book excerpt or a movie trailer). But it's not cool to give away the ending or to post the whole work, then just say whether you thought it was good or bad. And "educational use" is generally okay, but arguably only in an academic setting for legitimate educational purposes.

Remember that giving credit where it's due is NOT enough. You need permission. Claiming someone else's work as your own is plagiarism (a form of copyright violation); using work without the creator's permission, even if you properly cite the source, may still be a violation of their copyright.

This is part of what I don't understand: "he publishes stories mostly..tell me, how can those stories be his original...I think it cannot be by anymeans"

Why do you assume this? It may be true (hard to even guess without a link), but what makes you so sure? Have you seen these stories elsewhere, or do you simply think this person isn't creative enough or talented enough to have written them all himself?

Now, if the stories are folklore - very old tales - then they are likely in the public domain. That does not mean a particular writer's retelling of them, with his own original embellishments and turn of phrase, is in the public domain. (An example I like to use is Cinderella. The original story is in the public domain; however, Disney's version is not. You can rewrite the Cinderella story yourself, or even post the ORIGINAL work, if you can find it - but you cannot post a modern author's version of the story without permission.)

Copyright issue is a matter of concern as bloggers. It is great of you Aswani that you are sharing this experience :) ....... as not many can do that.
If its the original work of the writer he/she should be given the credit. Just be careful from next time.

The fact that you did not accept the post as your own is good enough proof that you meant no harm bro just move on and learn from your mistake honesty is the best policy and you have been honest

interesting topic
today blogging is in a first phase so everything is uncertain

Yes SM, very right. Thanks for your comment :)

Thanks bro..will do as you have said. Keep in touch :)

Kya baat hain..scolding kya..hehe ;)

Holly..I know I cannot assume each and everything simply. But then still, these stories are mostly copied somewhere from the web and bloggers use them freely.

Ok, I will still make sure that this doesn't happen again..the next time *DONT_KNOW*

Thank you so much Holly for such indepth analysis on copyrighting issues. Very useful and informative! Will keep it in my mind for the next time.

Quite important Aswani... I personally think that giving credit is not all that important unless it was a guest post. Coz the web is there to provide information and share it was well...

sure :)

words have no owners.. i did have this thought in me. but that was before i began trying my hand at writing... a writer's creativity is at stake if someone thinks all of a sudden to post it on his blog, without giving credit to the original writer.. this ofcourse leads to wrong assumptions..

bt good tht u have posted this... appreciate it!

:-D

Thanks Paul :)

Thank you so much Matangi. glad to see you here on this blog..Keep in touch :)

Interesting Aswani. Never even realized that such things happened. Guess I've been too busy outside the blogosphere lately. My take on this is that regardless of where I took an article, for safety purposes, I will always mention where I got it from. I agree that there are so many articles out there that makes us wonder whether they are truly original or not. Anyway, if I do it, I link back to where I got it from. If that is not the original author, then that is his problem.

Thanks bro for your points, really appreciated...btw, glad to see you here after so long. Hope you are well. Keep in touch :)

So you got stung there bro', i was stung like that once and i was very concerned too. The truth of the matter is that the copyright laws are equally applicable in blogosphere. I guess it's best to quote the sources when importing some piece from some where even when we are not sure whether or not that particular source is genuine.

You’ve said that "…because I believed it didn’t belong to anyone…it was just a small story…….it couldn’t all be his original……..even if it were his original then why didn’t he bother to put it as a disclaimer?" Even how hard that i may want to agree with you on this point, looks like we can never win the argument as "one wrong cannot make one right". Hence sometimes an apology for such a "mistake" may help to lessen the problem esp nowadays when there appears to be a flood of information on the net and the sources happen to have become blurred along the way. Believe me that on a more serious note, plagiarism is also getting very rampant these days and in this age of free flow of information i wonder as to how the applicable rules or laws on copyrights & plagiarism are going to be stretched & fought in the courts. Only time will tell.....

Bro...thanks for such insightful feedback. Finally, I have realized my mistake and hopefully..won't repeat it again :(