Thread: Piracy...and Not the Swashbuckling Kind (Let's Talk Copyright Issues and Protocol)

Just curious, as I put together my ad copy and delve into the realm of article writing and blogging: what is the formal procedure for protecting written material on your website? I've been told many times that a copyright symbol and a statement at the bottom of your page are enough, but want to verify whether or not this is accurate. I'd like to safeguard my written material, though, because I have been tipped off that there are "pirates" off the starboard bow....yarrrrrrrrrrr.

I never really considered issues of copyright law and protecting written material until a friend of mine recently told me that several of her exact phrases have been directly lifted from her website and used without permission by a handful of different dancers. Makes me angry for her. She has clearly put hours of time, thought, and effort into creating a website with rich, earnest content, yet people are ripping her off because they're too lazy to produce their own original thoughts or can't write anything of substance on their own.

This is another thing, like slander, that could get you in trouble (or potentially sued) in the business world, but is acceptable in the BD world, where evidently anything goes.

Have any of you ever experienced a problem with another dancer either directly plagiarizing your work or blatantly paraphrasing your thoughts and ideas? If so, what did you do? Do you guys even take this issue as seriously as I do, or would you merely pass it off as annoying?

Who's up for a dry legal discussion-turned-rant on a Friday night?

It has happened (stealing content word-for-word) to Bhuzzers before. I don't know what you can do to protect yourself other than put some sort of disclaimer. I see other dancers do it. You can watermark your photos (though graphic designers will always know how to outwit you) or disable the right-click function to cut down on people stealing your photos.

MiaNaja, who is a fellow belly dancing lawyer, gives workshops on this topic. You may want to inquire with her...
I don't remember.

I seem to be having the same problem with my signature Dancers Dream Tour.
I found an ad for a US based company that is not a tour company and another dancer using similar phrases to describe and promote "their tour",
even down to copying our itinerary and verbage format.

I have to decide what to do as we are a ligitimate tour company with an office in Cairo and the U.S. and this, I feel, will cause confusion for the general dance public.

It is definatly an unethical practice to copy someone elses idea's change a word here and there, then call it your own.

It is sad that this has happened because both these people are known in the dance community.

Leyla Amir
Leyla Amir, Las Vegas, Egypt tours, dancer, performer
Egypt National Tours

Here's a little primer on the basics: Copyright Office Basics

If you write original content you are already protected under the copyright law, so the symbol and disclaimer is just a little bit of extra insurance. A lot of people don't know or care, so it really doesn't matter one way or the other...IMO.

I've seen some Web site that have disclaimer and privacy sections. You could make a separate page for that. Although I'm not sure people will read those.

What I wouldn't do: write a whole lot of stuff on your site that might sound overzealous. It will turn people off immediately. "Copyright © 2008 Andalee Oriental Dance. All rights reserved" on each page should be enough. If it isn't you can sue the infringers.

P.S. Slander is related to spoken words and libel is related to written words...And you have to be able to prove that your reputation was indeed harmed.

It's happened to me, with entire articles I've written appearing under other names. 99,9% of the time, I've been able to resolve the problem satisfactorily. My articles have covered everything from culture, history, styles, techniques and theory of dance, so there's a LOT opf material out on the internet. I have only had to resort to legal steps a few times having been in the dance business over 30 years, so I think that speaks well of the community.

The problem is threefold:
*ignorance about what constitutes copyrighted material
* ignorance about the fact that just because it is on the internet does NOT mean its not copyrighted
and *wilful theft of someone else's materials.

On the first two, you can contact the offending party and educate them, explaining that ANY material that is original is copyrighted once it is published (copyright notice on your work is a gentle reminder)and that permission must be granted or obtained from the originator. Once you grant permission, you then let the borrower know your terms:
*the material must be cited correctly as to originating author and publisher
* fees, if required, must be paid (yes, as the originating author, you ARE allowed to charge fees for others to use your materials)
* if they want to neither cite correctly nor abide by your terms, tell them the material must be removed from their site.

If they are wilful about using your material, inform that you WILL post notice of legal action, let the community know what has happened via forums and discussion groups and hire an attorney

Ne-Kajira

It might be worth pointing out on this thread that any dancer who uploads MP3 or video files to bhuz (or elsewhere) to share with other dancers without the permission of the copyright owner is also committing piracy.

Those of us who fret about our photos or liquid prose being stolen from our web sites should think about how we behave toward music and video.

I have no idea what the protocol is on this I'm afraid, sorry!

As for instances of plagiarism, a few of us did this show in Liverpool (well, 120 of us to be exact), and we called it "Club Orientale" and made a nice logo and even a website (now defunct).

About a month or so later our Raks Beaver friend renamed her club nights to "Club Orientation". Which was confusing.

I never really considered issues of copyright law and protecting written material until a friend of mine recently told me that several of her exact phrases have been directly lifted from her website and used without permission by a handful of different dancers. Makes me angry for her. She has clearly put hours of time, thought, and effort into creating a website with rich, earnest content, yet people are ripping her off because they're too lazy to produce their own original thoughts or can't write anything of substance on their own.

Tell ya what sucks: when a dear friend does this and thinks nothing of it. The head spins: decades-old friendship vs. ?? a lecture on ethics and a possible crippling of said friendship.

Perhaps, I should be more trusting. I submit all choreos for copyright.

Zobeide
zobeide

Originally Posted by zobeide

Perhaps, I should be more trusting. I submit all choreos for copyright.

Zobeide
zobeide

You are not being paranoid at all. I think you're being intelligent and you're well within your right to protect your intellectual property.

I am sure I would do the same thing, but I seldom choreograph....and it's kinda tricky to copyright improv ..l;,

I think that you can only benefit from an awareness of copyright law. In the UK, its not half as complicated or as dull as it sounds.

I deal with copyright purchasing and permissions for images at work and can tell you that in my experience, a lot of copyright infringements (especially where the internet is concerned) are due to people being just, well, dim.

Authors trot in to see me with a load of material they've 'borrowed' from the internet and are stunned to be told that it isn't of reproduceable quality and anyway, its illegal! These are supposedly intelligent individual but they sit and blink in astonishment when you tell them that they have essentially committed a crime.

Originally Posted by zobeide

Perhaps, I should be more trusting. I submit all choreos for copyright.

Zobeide
zobeide

I'm just curious, if your golden idol piece (just looked at your website) is actually based on someone else's work, how can it be be copyright-able?

and if so eligible, what is the benefit in submitting a copyright? Couldn't someone else just do the same thing and base a choreo on your piece and then copyright that new iteration?

Quelle recursive!