Beware: Content Parasites

Why pay a professional to create content when you can get an unsuspecting amateur out there to do it for free?

That is the attitude of some mainstream media organizations with web sites asking for contributions from their readers and viewers. One such example can be found at WPTZ-TV's site, ULocal.

If you read through all the legalese you'll eventually come to this section:

"SUBMITTED MATERIALS
...By posting Material on the Web Site, you grant to Hearst the royalty-free, irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive worldwide right and license to use, re-use, assign, sublicense, distribute, copy, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, display, perform, make, sell and export such Material, and create derivative works from such Material, in any and all media or technology now known or later developed, in any manner, in whole or in part, without any restriction or responsibilities or additional compensation or consideration to you or anyone else."

So if you capture a rare event on your camera such as an UFO crashing into Plattsburgh City Hall or a well-known movie starlet running around naked on Church Street in Burlington, VT, you better think twice before submitting it to WPTZ because the Hearst corporation will own it outright. The excerpt above is a blanket copyright grab. If there's money to be made, Hearst will make it, not you, because you gave them all rights to your content.

Let's say your video someone, a person who is a nobody at this point in time. A decade later than person becomes famous or notorious. You think you have a goldmine because you have a rare video of that person that everyone wants. Well, Hearst can step in and say, "Sorry, you gave it to us, we take all the dough."

Notice how the excerpt says that Hearst has all rights "in any and all media or technology now known or later developed, in any manner, in whole or in part, without any restriction or responsibilities or additional compensation or consideration to you or anyone else." So if someone develops cybernetic telepathy, Hearst still owns your stuff and they still get all the money.

Don't be a sap for content parasites. Whatever you create -- text, images or video -- take care when submitting it anywhere. If you want to share your stuff, set up your own blog or web site where you keep all rights to your content. Don't fall into a trap set by shady gatekeepers. Use the web to bypass them.

Greedy corporations are screwing you enough as it is.


NOTE: I'm not an IP lawyer but I know enough to spot a problem. Consult an intellectual property attorney if you have specific questions.