on copyrights

Sharing other people’s work is wonderful, but it’s also important to be mindful of doing so in a way that doesn’t infringe on copyrighted material, especially when publishing that work on the Internet. We’re not experts in copyright law, but we want to share some links from the experts. We also feel you should know there are risks to posting copyrighted material without permission.

Below are some tips we found at the University of Maryland University College that will allow you to share work you love without fear of violating copyright laws:

  • Always credit the source of your information.
  • Find out if the author of a work provides information on how to use his or her work. If explicit guidelines exist, follow them.
  • Ask the owner of the copyright for permission. Keep a copy of your request for permission and the permission received.

Stanford University Libraries has a great site on copyright and fair use, including the steps needed to request permission to reprint work. Their link is listed below along with other sites about copyright law. This site points out that all works published in the United States before 1923 are in the public domain. This means you don’t need to seek permission to use them. However, copyright laws on anything written after 1923 are varied and more complicated. It’s best to assume there is a copyright on the work and seek permission to use it.

Another way to avoid having to request permission is to link to the poem you want to share rather than posting it on your own site. Consider making your reaction to a poem the focus of your post, with a link to the poem at the end.

Or better still, share your own poetry! That way you don’t have to worry about copyright infringement, and you get to share your own writing. What could be better than that?

More on copyrights —

Note: We’ve only discussed U.S. copyright law in this post. If you live outside the United States, we suggest you do some research to find out what the copyright laws are in your country and make sure you are following them.

WEEKLY READ WRITE PROMPT

May 15, 2008 — The current Get Your Poem On post is here. This post is where you leave us a link to your blog in response to Blythe's prompt having something to do with mothers. Or any other poetric inspiration. We don't care, as long as you eat your vegetables.

Jill's Read Write Prompt for next week is an exercise in comparisons.



WEEKLY READ WRITE ARTICLES

May 15, 2008 — We've been wanting more read here at Read Write Poem and Juliet brings it with her review of Spoken Word Revolution Redux.

Christine has taken Informal Talk About Forms into new territory with her talk about the sonnet. Celebrate a new old form.

Christine's latest installment of Get The Lead Out is a discussion kick-off about writing groups. It's a good read. Join her conversation.

Jessica has a new Poetry Book Club report about Rae Armantrout's latest book, Next Life.



POLL DANCE

May 11, 2008 — Carolee is back at it with an interesting discussion centered on the last poll, which asks us about our self perception. There are great follow-up comments from participants, so read it...and then visit the latest poll. One column over - yeah, on the far right.



READ WRITE NaPoWriMo

Apr. 30, 2008 — Here's a recap of RWP's April 2008 support for the NaPoWriMo-er's effort(s!!).

And here's a celebration-of-your-NaPoWriMo-success button. Help yourself.



RANDOM PROMPTS

A different word or phrase will appear here each time you visit the site or refresh the page. Your current prompt is — crease



RANDOM WRITING TIP

Think of a famous person or situation from history, imagine them/it updated to present-day, and write a poem based on what you imagine.



RANDOM READING TIP

Even though free verse is the dominant style now, formal poetry was popular for hundreds of years. Alternate some of the modern or classical masters of formal verse with modern writers of free verse. Don’t know where to start? Try Shakespeare, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Marilyn Hacker, Agha Shahid Ali, Maxine Kumin and many others.



RANDOM COLLABORATING TIP

Send a chainpoem to a collaborator through e-mail or regular mail. Supply the first line and ask the recipient to supply another line then pass the poem on to someone else, and so on and so on, until a recipient adds a final line and deems the piece finished.


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READ WRITE POEM BUTTON


Below is the code that will allow you to get your very own Read Write Poem button for your blog. The button comes in two sizes, and all you need to do is copy the code for the size you want and paste it into your blog's sidebar or even into your individual Read Write Poem posts.

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