Making sure that you are running your content marketing campaign in a way that is ethical is essential. In the last post, the importance of ethical content curation was discussed.

This posting is going to provide some ways to avoid infringement on the copyrights of others, and some ways to help you protect your own work.

Always Link to the Original Work

If you use content that was created by another writer, you must always give them credit for their work. Linking the material back to the original author will make sure they get credit. It will also provide your readers with additional information if they would like to dig deeper. This can also help you avoid copyright infringement.

Be Careful with Images

This is probably the most common mistake that content writers make. Using an image without the author’s permission can get you into a lot of legal trouble. Don’t do it.

This mistake can be easily avoided if you take the appropriate steps to give credit to the original authors. You can also use royalty free images in your work as well. These are images that are available for the general public to use. Creative commons is another great site to use.

Protect your Content

Most of the material in this posting has been about making sure you aren’t infringing on someone else’s content. But what if someone infringes on yours?

Typically, infringement does not happen out of malice. It usually happens because of ignorance. Most people are completely unaware of the fact that they are actually stealing your work. If you know someone who might be making this mistake, tell them to read this article. Now. Thanks!

Here are some ways to prevent others from inadvertently infringing on your work:

• Use plagiarism checkers. Copyscape is a great tool for finding whether or not your work is being used without your consent. All you need to do is put in the URL of your content and the program will see if your work appears anywhere else.
• Contact the person who is using your work. Don’t be aggressive, just politely let them know that they are using your work without giving you proper credit. They can either take down your posting, or link to your site. If you handle this correctly, you can get more links to your website which is great for SEO purposes.
• If the situation gets more serious, you may need to file a DMCA complaint. Going through this process should get the offender to take down your material.

It is always best to make sure that you are always behaving ethically and legally when working with content. If you follow these strategies, you will keep yourself out of trouble and be free to continue driving more sales and engaging with your audience.