Copyright and plagiarism issues

[John F]

Fellow UAers

UA is growing from strength to strength and it is everybody's responsibility to make sure this growth is sound and sustainable. And the way we make this happen is ultimately through our posts i.e. QUALITY posts. Original, innovative and relevant posts are what makes a fishing forum interesting and attracting to a wider audience.

This post is about some of the potential risks and ways to avoid duplication, plagiarism and copyright issues with regards to the material posted on UA. Sometimes we find lot's of interesting stuff all over the internet that we feel the urge to share it with the rest of the UA community. It's natural and it's healthy. But copying and pasting it straight into UA without any acknowledgment or references to the original author, is not the way to do it! This constitutes breach of copyright and in fact, is illegal!

Even if the poster is not making any money out of it, there are permissions and copyright procedures that need to be obtained/followed. Otherwise it reflects badly on the poster and ultimately on UA.

If you feel the need to post something taken from another site, then the right way to do this is to obtain permission from the original author. It is also common courtesy to acknowledge the original author - eg: "Courtesy of Joe Bloggs - finefishing.com".

Now, I do understand that there's no harm meant and that the intentions are noble, BUT as a policy maybe we at UA should start paying a little more attention to this...

Just trying to raise a bit of discussion towards this issue. I'm not pointing fingers (because I might just be one of them!) and I would just like to call your attention to this issue and see what your feelings are...

Thanks and no offense meant!

[SAfish]

  I think we should all take note of this to make UA the best fishing forum in the world. You have my support.   

[jaenswart]

Good point.

We all need to take responsibility when posting to make sure we have the permission of the original author, and that we give credit where this is due.

As for references to other sites, always remember to check with Admin first as it is against the forum rules to post external links without admin's permission.

Regards

[TUNAMAN]

100% JOHN.  I recently made the same mistake but aptly contacted the author and with some guidance corrected it.

To elaborate, most authors do not mind the use of their content as long as you state who they are and post the relevant link to their original material.

Also if I may ask Jaen and other moderators to clarify the link situation. At times it is difficult to wait for confirmation. I do however presume that the link should not be to a site which in anyway could be in competition with UA re. forums etc. Clarity however over the criteria around this will be appreciated. This will give the moderators some breathing space if all members could apply them beforehand.

Thanks guys.

[nico]

Fully agreed! It is not only the legal side, but common courtesy and the right thing to do to credit the originator of any info.
 
But original content is still the best 

[benniejordaan]

100% JOHN.  I recently made the same mistake but aptly contacted the author and with some guidance corrected it.

To elaborate, most authors do not mind the use of their content as long as you state who they are and post the relevant link to their original material.

Also if I may ask Jaen and other moderators to clarify the link situation. At times it is difficult to wait for confirmation. I do however presume that the link should not be to a site which in anyway could be in competition with UA re. forums etc. Clarity however over the criteria around this will be appreciated. This will give the moderators some breathing space if all members could apply them beforehand.

Thanks guys.

I'd think it's fairly simple. A forum - No link. An article - go for it.

[REEFMAN]

I'd think it's fairly simple. A forum - No link. An article - go for it.

Generally, that's the accepted protocol...

[jaenswart]

Also if I may ask Jaen and other moderators to clarify the link situation.

As long as the link is not to a website seen as competition or another forum it should be fine. Obviously also the linked site must be family safe as UA is family safe.