The Copyright Debate and RSS

The Copyright Debate and RSS

by: S. Housley

RSS is commonly defined as really simple syndication. So, this means that any material contained in a feed is available for syndication, right? Well no, not exactly. It means that the content contained in an RSS feed is in a format that is syndication friendly, if the copyright holder allows for syndication. Offering a feed for syndication does not in fact grant any legal rights to anyone to reuse the feeds content beyond what the Copyright laws grant as Fair Use.

In practice, while your feed might legally be protected, you could literally spend weeks attempting to protect the contents of your feed. Legal gray areas are introduced with Search Engines indexing feeds and RSS Feed Directories including copywritten feeds, in their categorized directories. How do you distinguish between a legitimate search engine, RSS directory and someone simply reproducing the contents of a feed for personal gain? Legally how can you defend against one and not the other?

One can ask whether it is legally is it wrong to reproduce content in a feed. Morally is it wrong? Does the site have a purpose or value outside of the syndicated content? Is the aggregation of topic specific feeds in itself a value?

If you use the feeds for content and label the site a directory does that make it any more legal? What about personal web aggregators? If it is for personal use,is it OK?

Take a look at the following topic specific feed directories:

Financial Investing http://www.financeinvesting.com

or

Security Protection http://www.securityprotection.net

One could argue that the above sites do in fact provide value, aggregating and categorizing related topic specific feeds in a single location. In fact those in the security sector of the finance arena might find the above sites of significant value but what of the content creators?

Laws and Technology Collide

Most people publishing content via RSS support republication of feeds. Because the technology is fairly new, the laws and legalities are still murky. It is assumed that content in RSS is protected by copyright laws but let us not forget the Internet is global and their is not a centralized body governing what is right or what is wrong. Not only does law and technology collide the laws of different countries, those creating the feed and those displaying the contents of the feed may contradict each other. It is for this reason, I would advise that publishers using RSS to assume that the contents of their RSS feeds will be syndicated and replicated.

Tips and Tricks to Protect Your Feed.

That is not to say there are not things that can be done to protect feeds. At the end of the day being proactive is the best way to protect intellectual property.

Part of feed protection is ensuring that appropriate credit is given, this can be arranged by including a copyright assignment in the final line of the Item Description field.

Additionally you can include links back to your website in the Item description field.

Use teaser copy in the RSS feedกs Item description field, linking back to your website which contains the full contents of the post.

At the end of the day, protecting the contents of a feed can be daunting and limiting. Controlling your contents to ensure appropriate credit and links are included is critical.

About The Author

Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for NotePage http://www.notepage.net a wireless text messaging software company.

This article was posted on August 17

by S. Housley

3 HighImpact Article Promotion Techniques

3 HighImpact Article Promotion Techniques

by: Brett Krkosska

Wellwritten, tightlyfocused articles are in high demand by thousands of online publishers. Why? Because publishers view good content as a valueadded asset, enhancing their own brand awareness and deepening relationships with clients and customers.
As a content provider, you can attract a substantial and continuous flow of new prospects from online venues that might otherwise be inaccessible. And unlike other promotional methods, you get this traffic without spending a penny on advertising.
The three techniques below make it easy for publishers your willing and enthusiastic partners to find and publish your material.
1. Syndicate Your Articles
Syndicating your articles makes it easy for site owners to put your content on their website. Itกs a real timesaver and totally handsoff for webmasters.
Automation is a big selling point of online syndication. The syndicating site simply inserts 2 lines of code on their web page, and your articles are distributed from your server to their web page automatically. You have total control over content and style, while the webmaster never lifts a finger again.
Itกs an ideal situation for you. Once a site agrees to accept your articles through syndication, you are freed from the job of marketing each article individually to the site owner. A marketerกs dream!
For details on setting up your syndicated feed, read this article by William Bontrager:

http://www.homebiztools.com/syndication.htm
One of the first places to start marketing your syndicated feed is on your website. Post a sample article so others can see the quality of your work, and show them how to set up their web page to accept your articles.
For additional marketing muscle, solicit webmasters from the resource box of your article. Include a line to let them know your column is available for syndication.
Lastly, get listed in syndicated article directories such as those found at Freesticky.com and StickySuace.com. Traffic from directories is highly targeted and more likely to result in a syndication arrangement.
2. Publish Your Own News Channel
Your own news channel allows you to broadcast your content to the Web with one text file. The protocol to accomplish this is called RSS. This stands for Really Simple Syndication (or Rich Site Summary, depending on who you talk to). Weblogs are an example of content commonly available in RSS.
Once created, your RSS content file can be read by news aggregator programs. By registering with aggregator sites, your feed is indexed and made available for sites interested in receiving your feed. You can see my own news feed in action at NetBizHelpers.com.
Here are some excellent sites with articles on setting up and registering your news channel:
Mark Nottinghamกs RSS Tutorial

http://www.mnot.net/rss/tutorial/
Technology at Harvard Law

http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss
O’reilly XML.com

http://www.xml.com/pub/a/2002/12/18/diveintoxml.html
3. Submit To Article Directories and Announcement Lists
Many publishers subscribe to announcement lists and browse article directories for content. Highquality articles are regularly picked up from these sources. Itกs not uncommon for a good article to be published in several ezines with combined readerships in the tens of thousands.
Here is a listing of popular spots to submit your articles online:

http://www.homebiztools.com/articledir.htm
To begin posting your articles on announcement lists:

http://www.homebiztools.com/articlelists.htm
There you have it! Three great ways to market your articles and give publishers what they need, while you enjoy nocost advertising.

About The Author

Brett Krkosska is a freelance writer and syndicated columnist. He is the owner and founder of http://www.HomeBizTools.com. an idea center for small/homebased business owners.

This article was posted on July 21, 2004

by Brett Krkosska