Let me clear this up up front. Just because you are working with God’s Word does not mean that copyright infringement, or in more spiritual terms, stealing, is okay. No if’s, and’s, or but’s about it. It is sinning and ignorance is NOT an excuse. You can get sues and you will lose. And if you are sinning, you will face a more serious consequence.
Now that I got my theology and legal aspect out of the way:
How do churches and individuals avoid copyright infringement?
- Fair use doctrine allows for reasonable use, but does include benefiting off of it (including tithing or marketing), cannot be seen as “your work,” and go against the wishes of the original author.
- There are several types of copyright options and just because you got it off Google does not mean it is public domain. If the original photo is fully copyrighted (and you assume it is until you read it isn’t) then you cannot claim it.
- Attributing the content you use from others is not only suggested, it is moral and ethical. We at ChurchMag make it a policy to do so. (See below the infographic how we do it.)
What are your concerns with copyright infringement with Christians and ministries?
[via Vound Software]
Susan Kleinwechter says
Thank you for such a concise and clear infographic. I can’t think of anything you left out! You’ve saved me hours of explaining to people when they ask “Can I?” and “How do I?”
Jeremy Smith says
Good!, Glad it helps.
Eric Dye says
This was excellent.
Simon L Smith says
I write about movies and often wonder what I can and cannot do. Thanks for this.1
Jeremy Smith says
Glad it helped!
Steve Fogg says
Excellent article. The only comment I would add is to check your local copyright laws in your own country.
Our laws in Australia are different to the USA and it falls on the user to stay within the law.
Jeremy Smith says
Very true! The internet is a vast place, so local is a variable term.
Jeremy Phillips says
What about Screenshots of websites mentioned on the blog, and Screenshots and Screen Captures used for Video Tutorials?
Jeremy Smith says
It’s definitely a grey area. Something like Let’s Play video games has a EULA with every game that you need to investigate. Screenshots the same. Websites are a bit different per website, but most people reserve the right to request it be taken down, knowing full well that their website is in a public domain for the viewing of others.
Jeremy Phillips says
I realize that some sites may have the goal of criticizing websites and adding screenshots. I think that is still at least somewhat covered in the fair use description. But everything I am posting typically encourages people to visit a specific site and is promoting the site. I think taking a screenshot and cropping it down to a specific graphic would be like stealing. But I am talking about taking a slice of the entire website and annotating to illustrate the content of the post. I always link to the article or site as well.
Andrea says
I’m part of a website which is user-defined – basically, everyone who is a member of the site uploads their own images and allows them free use for anybody else – you don’t even have to sign up as a member to use the images (although if you’re not a member, you’re bombarded with adverts and have to do a captcha confirmation)
And they’re really good quality too – the team behind the website only accepts excellent pictures.
it’s http://www.pixabay.com
Jeremy Smith says
Because these are individualized, I wonder if they allow changes of permissions… then it gets tricky. The difficulty of copyright.