Source: http://cyber-knowledge.net/blog/images/music_pirate.png

An esteemed blogger wrote to me recently, sharing the following (slight adjustments made to alter style and ensure anonymity of folks):

Guys, question: New blog is repurposing my content – see [example removed]

But, I am CC licensed: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/

To be fair, I have not specified how I wish to be attributed, but, she’s never asked me or the many others she’s getting content from.

I’m going to email the blog author – she’s new, probably a misunderstanding – and I’m greatful for the acknowledgment but I find this distasteful. Am I off base?

Before responding, I took a quick look at the site and checked the purpose. It reminded me of Michael Moore’s pirating of his content:

Documentary filmmaker Michael Moore has recently gone on record stating that downloading and watching his films was fine as long as people didn’t try to make money off them. In a way, it’s a classic struggle between a filmmaker creating works he wants the world to see, while the studio that produced it would rather everyone pay to see it instead of downloading. Other directors have backed up his position and the current distributor is allowing the downloading to take place.
Source: Michael Moore: pirate my film, please

Michael Moore asserts, I made this film because I want the world, to change. The more people who see it the better, so I’m happy this is happening. Do you have the same attitude in regards to your blog? Imagine blogging heavyweights like Wes Fryer, David Warlick, Dr. Scott McLeod, Vicki Davis, or Kevin Jarrett, to name only a few. Would they object to someone reposting entire blog entries on their web site WITHOUT a link back to the original content?

This also reminded me of Paulo Coelho’s action of pirating his own work, The Alchemist.

Although in this case, there is no REAL pirating of content…just one educator copying-n-pasting another’s content for sharing with a whole school. Is that wrong?

Here’s my response to my colleague:

Howdy…taking a look at the blog site, some points to consider:

• It’s not a commercial web site being run by a vendor or someone trying to profit off anyone else’s work.
• The purpose of the blog is EDUCATIONAL, to help [campus name removed] Elementary school be an “informed staff member!”
• None of the content quoted I could see on a quick scan altered or transformed or built upon your work.

The only grounds you have for a complaint is lack of proper attribution, as expressed here:

For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others the license terms of this work. The best way to do this is with a link to this web page.

In each of the examples of blog entries I looked at, there is no link to the ORIGINAL blog entry. Since linking is critical to blogging it’s important that the blog author include a link.

I would offer it as a suggestion, or expectation, like this:
[name removed], hey, great blog! I’m honored you chose to share my blogging efforts with [campus name removed] Elementary School staff members! Introducing team members to great resources is important, as is helping know where they can find more. To that end, that’s why I use the Creative Commons Copyright (find out more at http://creativecommons.org) and encourage people to link to the original blog entry. That helps me spread my message–for educators by an educator–and gives your team members the opportunity to discover more.

Please include a link to my web site (web site address goes here) in future entries!! Thanks again for choosing my work to appear on your site! I would love to facilitate an online discussion and reflection session about the articles, if you think your team would find it useful. We can meet via Skype or Second Life or use your [removed] Blog. What do you think?

In the meantime, feel free to copy-n-paste other content you think relevant to [removed] School, and link back to me! (Your links help my blog’s status and help other people find it).

With appreciation,
[name removed]

How would you have responded? Do you think school districts “pirating” content from your education blog and sharing it with their staff–with or without attribution–is right or wrong?

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