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Copyright Infringement Strikes Again
On my soapbox as it pertains to Virtual Assistants:
During my first couple of copyright escapades I came across this great site: http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html.
Pay special attention to this section (excerpted from http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html):
“If I make up my own stories, but base them on another work, my new work belongs to me.”
False. U.S. Copyright law is quite explicit that the making of what are called “derivative works” — works based or derived from another copyrighted work — is the exclusive province of the owner of the original work. This is true even though the making of these new works is a highly creative process. If you write a story using settings or characters from somebody else’s work, you need that author’s permission.
For some additional light reading (I am being facetious) you can read all about the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works at: http://www.law.cornell.edu/treaties/berne/overview.html and the Universal Copyright Convention at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Copyright_Convention.
The argument that there are only so many ways that you can describe a Virtual Assistant is getting old. If you use the IVAA definition give them credit, if you use Virtual Accuracy’s definition give them credit, etc. However, always ask the individual organization or VA to use their definition prior to putting it on your site. Don’t plagiarize another person’s definition and claim it as your own.
Becki 
1 User Commented In " Copyright Infringement Strikes Again "
Becki…
Great post…I couldn’t agree more.
At AssistU we finally created a formal IP policy that spelled out what people could use freely, what they could never use, and what they had to request a license for. Since that time, we’ve had no challenges or misunderstandings at all within the AssistU community.
The more global VA community, OTOH, is another issue. I’d been advised by our attorney that we should confront individuals who were using our stuff without permission, and use the language, “…you’ve stolen our intellectual property.” The overwhelming response I received from people was indignant–none of them believed they’d stolen anything.
Through dealing with a particularly heinous bought of infringement, I learned that many couldn’t understand the “stealing” piece, but if I used the word “plagiarism” it woke some sleeping beast inside them (shades of some long-forgotten English teacher, I imagine!), and they immediately got my point, and could see the wrongness in what they’d done.
So maybe the way we deal with this particular challenge is to continue to protect our rights, while trying to educate those who infringe them. Although it’s difficult to understand how someone could use IP verbatim and not understand that it’s inappropriate, unacceptable, and illegal, the reality is that many genuinely don’t.
Thanks for doing such a great blog–keep up the good work!
Stacy
kO′ch VA adj. 1. a highly specialized and niched virtual
assistant who is in tune with their coaching clients and customizes solutions based upon their individual needs and goals 2. differs from a general virtual assistant as they only partner with members of the coaching industry [syn: 
