Hi, I've been reading a quite a bit about this and have actually setup a wordpress blog and feedwordpress plug-in my private server for testing. I'm actually thinking about the legal issues of using rss feeds and having someone else's content on your own site/blog, is this legal if you credit the author/source at the end of the article? Some sites have articles condemning this, although in forums/othersites it seems to be freely discussed about as it if it the norm.
Of course it's legal! I think you've got the wrong question, it should be "Is it illegal if WE DON'T credit the author/source at the end of the article?" coz definitely, the original authors will be happy with the credits you're giving them as well as posting their articles...
You see, i would actually agree with you there. But i'v seen a few posts on forums where people have have articles taken using their rss feeds and even although they state they have been credited, there were not please and there was all sorts of talk about legal action etc...It was that, that got me somewhat concerned. Maybe, i'm just mental/paranoid lol
Currently it is "legal" but rules on the web change in an instant especially when you have judges that do not understand the technology. Just like the recent case of deeplinking in Texas. However even though it is currently legal does not mean that you wont get blog owners that flip their lids because they believe you are stealing their content. Their are many blog owners that have little or no clue on the RSS technologies and how they have control over it. They just need to spend some time reading up on heir blog software.
There is nothing currently that makes it legal. Copyrights are copyrights regardless of how it is transferred.
You need to keep in mind that not all websites want their feeds syndicated. In most cases they make the feeds available so their visitors can keep up to date with new articles etc. Now add advertising into the mix and it gets complicated. Most sites uses feeds from other sites to boost their content and make money from Adsense ads on the pages thus profiting from the copyrighted material in the feeds. The best option is to ask permission from the site owner before syndicating their feeds especially if you are putting ads on the pages.
Yeh..i figured as much Crusader. So, the owner of the site may give permission, but what if all the articles are from other sources/sites by different people. Does the owner of the site with the feeds on have the right to say you can use all feeds from their site?
No, you will have to track down the original site who owns the copyright and ask their permission. Nobody but the copyright holder can give permission.
Sure as soon as you provide some legal precedent that it is legal. Copyrights have carried over every single transfer medium to date and there is nothing that makes RSS any different.
Really? The whole nature of RSS makes it different. There is a whole discussion on the UCLA law boards about this issue. And until it has a court challenge it will not be resolved in legal terms. Now again provide me the legal precedent that you must have researched. And don't give me the "you show me" argument because you know that I cannot show you what does not exist. Until the day someone decides to challenge Really Simple Syndication in a court of law, it is just a bunch of arguments about how the results could/would/may turn out. I understand that many have their own theories about how it may be ruled, in fact there is probably a whole butt load of lawyers that would love to argue the case to find out.