I have been observing copyright infringement in Steemit for a few days, checking that there are companions who copy and paste poems, stories or stories of authors, dead or not, then put the name of the author of the poem, story or tale and think that they are thus free from the mortal sin of plagiarism.
However, these comrades are unaware that some of these poems, stories or tales may be protected by copyright and we should bear this in mind, because when uploading these works to Steemit and claiming to collect them, it is a clear and absolute violation of the author's or his heirs' copyright.
That's why we have to stop at that detail and know that when we upload a work of known authorship, we should find out if that work is protected by copyright and, if it is, we should refrain from publishing it or at least use the option of refusing payment to cover our backs in any civil suit. This part is no joke. There are authors who take great care of their interests, as it could not be otherwise.
But the ethical thing about this platform, which we watch over the original content, is that we refrain from publishing content from other authors and, moreover, when we know that such content is protected by copyright.
That would be the most ethical thing to do.
Uploading a work to this community knowing that it is protected by copyright (even if it says who the author is) and claiming to charge for that content, is just as reprehensible as plagiarism because you are trying to collect for something you have not created, that its copyright is still in force and all the benefits that that work generates belong to the author or his heirs. That much clear.
I hope I have clarified this point which some people are unaware of or unfamiliar with, but they do not give it due weight and for me it is just as important as plagiarism or piracy.
Plagiarists and pirates believe that Steemit is a jungle where they can do whatever they want, but they forget that Steemit is taking a very serious stance against this type of behavior, which are torpedoes to the waterline of this community and we should not look the other way.
And as a final reflection, we should take copyright very seriously and not vote, if we have any doubt, on any entry that copies or pastes any work of a known author, even if they put whose work is. Doubt is a good tool for not making mistakes.
We must all be vigilant about these practices because what the cheaters gain, we stop winning it.
Image source: Pixabay
