A Bit About Copyright

Mar 24, 2010 by Lindsay Gower

Your web site and marketing materials are protected by copyright.

Copyright is a form of intellectual property law that protects the authorship of original works of fiction, non-fiction, music and lyrics, poetry, plays and screenplays, computer software, and architecture. On your web site, copyright protects original text as well as original artwork, music, sound recordings.
Instant copyright: Just add ink
You own the copyright on your work as soon as you put it into a perceptible, tangible form. As soon as you jot it onto notepaper or type it up on a MS Word doc, the copyright is yours. It doesn’t …

How Fair is My Use

Jul 20, 2009 by Aaron Rubman

What is the Definition of Fair Use?

Fair use is a provision of United States’ copyright law that outlines the extent to which copyrighted work can be used or reproduced without seeking the permission of the copyright holder.  Generally speaking, fair use is only meant to cover the limited amount of duplication necessary for criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research.

A more thorough definition can be found in Title 17 of the U.S. Code, Chapter 1, Paragrah 107

Room for Interpretation

As Supreme Court Justice nominee Sonja Sotomayor has repeatedly pointed out during her confirmation hearings, changes in technology and …

Where Can I Find Free Content From Other Websites to Use on My Own?

May 13, 2009 by Aaron Rubman

Let’s face it.  Times are tough, and even though you may want the services of a professional photographer or copywriter, you may not have the budget to commission one.

So, where can you turn if you need to cheaply, legally, and ethically obtain images, videos, and other content for your website?

One answer is the Creative Commons

    The Creative Commons was founded in 2001 by Lawrence Lessig in an effort to make information more accessible while preserving the rights of the creator.

    To do this the Creative Commons has developed a number of standard licenses with some rights reserved.

    Material produced under …

Can I use text from another website on mine?

Apr 1, 2009 by Aaron Rubman

This is a very interesting question, and one that is not as easy to answer as it might first seem.   What looks like a single question is in reality four.
1)     Is it possible to copy text from another website onto my own site?
2)     Is it legal for me to use text from another website on my own site?
3)     Is it ethical for me to use text from another website on my own site?
4)     Is it effective to copy text from another site onto my own site?
Is it possible to copy text from another site onto my own site?

The first question …

Welcome to The Gold Mine

The Gold Mine is a blog developed by MB/I to assist site owners with the process of developing and maintaining a website. MB/I is a full-service web development company building websites since 2000.

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