There is some confusion with regard to plagiarism and what constitutes fair use online. Some people are so afraid to violate copyright laws, or have their rights to their own intellectual property violated, that they miss great opportunities to see their work expanded.

The blogosphere has its own rules but those rules don't discount traditional law. Stealing is still stealing, even on the Internet. But allow me to dispel some copyright infringement myths:

It isn't stealing if you attribute the sourceCopyright infringement does not entail using another person work if you add content of your own that creates new valueFair use entails adding enough content of your own to sufficiently prevent your content from consisting primarily or only of another individual's content

If these guidelines seem a big vague, it's because they are. When it comes to fair use and copyright infringement, there are a lot of gray areas. However, there is still enough black and white to draw some lines in the sand.

Christopher Alan Jennings of the American Law Division wrote a report for Congress titled "Fair Use on the Internet" and he said that courts weigh four factors with regard to fair use, whether online or off line:

Purpose and character of work in questionNature of copyrighted work"Amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole"Effect of use of the work "upon the potential market"

In the blogosphere, it is considered acceptable to trackback to another individual's blog or borrow from their blog and add comments of your own. If you engage in this practice, and you should, then do the right thing and link back to your sources. This is the online equivalent of citing references in your print or off line material. Your link back to the original source constitutes proper attribution. Of course, you could go a step further and identify your source by name, but it isn't necessary.

An example of proper attribution would be the above link to the "Fair Use on the Internet" report. By linking back to the original source, you give your readers a chance to check your facts to see if you got them correct but also to see if you are interpreting them correctly. You let the readers be the judge. This will go a long ways with your credibility.

Before you use material from another website or blog, ask yourself these questions:

Does this material add value or provide new understanding to my readers?Would my own comments regarding this topic benefit without this material?Am I willing to link back to this source?

This is not elementary and there is more to each of these questions than simply answering them without contemplation.

If the material you want to copy and paste adds new understanding to your topic and provides value for your readership then go ahead and use it, but be sure to give attribution to your source.

If your own comments will stand alone without the material you want to borrow, ask yourself if it is really necessary to borrow. If not, then leave it alone. If there is no way your own material can stand alone without borrowing someone else's material then maybe you should reconsider your own knowledge of the topic. You want your own material to be able to stand on it's own. Consider the other person's work much like graphics on a web page: It is there to enhance, not be the primary focus.

Thirdly, if you are not willing to link back to your source then don't bother using the material. Linking back is essential as an act of attribution and if you are not willing to do this then leave it alone.

So what should you do if you believe your copyrighted material has been stolen? First, right a letter to the webmaster or ezine publisher asking them to remove your material or attribute you as the source. Ask for a link back to your website. If they are not willing to provide that link then ask them to remove your material.

If you can't get the result you want by doing this, go to Alexa or WhoIs and find out who the ISP is. Both websites provide that information and you can contact the ISP to report a violation of law. The ISP will investigate and if they agree with you then they can, and many will, shut the website down. If you go this route, provide the ISP with this information:

Your name and contact informationThe website or blog where your material was originally publishedThe exact wording of the copyrighted material that was stolenA copy of your correspondence with the publisher that you are accusing of fair use infringement Bottom line: Just because your material is used doesn't mean there is a copyright infringement and even if there is, it might be to your benefit to overlook it. Does the website provide a link back to you? If so, you are still benefiting from their use of your material. Ask yourself if it is more important to you to control your material in every way or if you want the benefits of links back to your website. You might find yourself saying, "It's really no big deal."