You put a lot of work into a piece of art, video, or writing only to find that another Steemit user has shared your content without your permission.
It feels pretty crappy, right? But is sharing someone else's content stealing?
This topic has been on my mind for the last day or so... ever since @ghulammujtaba alerted me that another Steemit user made a post sharing my animated video, An Explanation of Steemit Voting Power without asking me or giving me any credit.
They didn't even pair the post with any of their own thoughts or content.
It was simply a naked link... a link that belonged to ME.
That isn't the first time I've had this happen to me. In fact, I've seen my content shared on blog posts that have made more money than my original post.
It's infuriating, but...
Is it stealing?
I'm going to come right out the gate with an emphatic NO.
NO IT IS NOT STEALING.
What? I can't believe he just said that!
It isn't stealing for the same reason that so-called "media piracy" isn't stealing. The original creator doesn't lose anything when their content is shared without permission. It isn't like taking something physical: If I steal a candy bar from you, you have one less candy bar. But if I share your music online, you still have your music.
The only thing "lost" to the content creator is potential profits, but no one has a right to hypothetical future profit.
That's all I'll say about that. I'm not going to get into a huge discussion about the philosophy of intellectual property. I'll save that for another post, or more likely, the comments section.
Now let me be perfectly clear about something:
Just because it isn't technically stealing, doesn't mean that it isn't totally uncool.
Someone else put a lot of work into creating original content and you think you can just share it on your blog to make a quick buck? Not cool. Not cool at all.
Those are my feelings as a content creator, but on the flip side...
Is there value in sharing non-original content?
My feelings are so mixed about this. On the one hand, I want to see content creators paid for their work. I don't like it when users are paid for sharing someone else's work while the original creator sees none of that profit.
However, it cannot be denied that content has value. Whether or not that value goes to the creator, the content itself is valuable and brings value to the lives of those who see it. This is why I chose not to flag the post that shared my video: even though I won't earn money from it, I still want people to see the post and watch my video.
There is certainly value in sharing content and bringing something unseen or unheard to the lives of others, even if you are not the creator.
My mind is at war. How do I reconcile these two competing ideas? Or to put it another way...
What ethical guidelines should we follow on Steemit?
I don't have the answer. I don't know if there is a single answer. But I do have some ideas.
If you're sharing someone else's content...
- Give Proper Credit: The very least you can do is give credit where credit is due. If you enjoy someone else's work enough to share it, you should also let people know where to go for more of that same content.
- Consider Resteeming: Rather than making your own post sharing another user's content, first see if they've put it in a post that you can share. This way the content creator still gets paid and you still get to share what they made. Everybody wins. If the creator's original post is too old for them to see any additional profit, consider one of the options below:
- Donate the SBD Reward to the Creator: This would be a very kind way to demonstrate your appreciation of the creator's work. And you still get the Steem Power profit as your "finders fee", everybody wins! This is the action I would most likely take if resteeming was no longer a worthwhile option.
- Decline Payout: As a sign of good faith, consider declining to take any payment. This shows that you recognize that you don't necessarily deserve profit for someone else's creation. This is the action I would most likely take if I was sharing something from a non-Steemit user. For instance, if I wanted to tell you all about a band I love, I might share their music videos but decline payout. I don't think sharing a link warrants much profit.
These are just suggestions. I don't think they should be law.
I don't think it's necessarily wrong to profit off of someone else's work. Like I said above, there is value in sharing something of value. But it would be way cooler if the person responsible for the content was rewarded.
That's my two cents on the matter. I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments!
Remember to upvote and follow me @sethlinson
~Seth
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