Worried about people violating your blog copyright?
Here are three clever, eye-catching notices that I’ve come across since blogging. Coincidentally, these three blogs are among my favorites. Do check them out!
~~~
AN APPEAL TO YOUR BETTER NATURE
From Gallivanta’s beautiful and wise blog, silkannthreades:
“All the content, photos and text and original ideas in this blog are copyright to silkannthreades. Please be courteous and respect my copyright. You can do this by asking my permission to use, copy or Reblog any of my material.
“If you are too shy to ask, please at the very least, give full credit to my blog. And if you’re too shy to do even that, please only use my work in a way that respects its integrity. THANK YOU in anticipation of your GOODWILL.”
~~~
A POX UPON YOUR THIEVING!
Elizabeth Melton Parson’s excellent blog warned: “The copyright notice is at the end of this post. If you fail to abide by it, ‘May the curse of Mary Malone and her nine, blind, illegitimate children chase you so far over the hills of damnation that the good Lord Himself can’t find you with a telescope.”
~~~
MY GUARD DOG WILL BITE YOU!
And, from The Hermit’s Door , a warning of the canine kind:
“Here in the mountains, if you want to borrow something, ask first. You don’t take tools from someone’s barn and claim they are yours. We have dogs who take care of folks who think they own someone else’s stuff.
“If you borrow something, return it in good condition. If you have any questions about whether this blog is copyright protected, talk to my dog.”
So, after reading all these, I’d like to write a copyright notice of my own. Any ideas for something clever and emphatic?
Cynthia Reyes 
Soooooooo clever!
Aren’t they just? good to hear from you, Cindy.
Fun post Cynthia. I like the 2nd and 3rd ones. I could be nice or I could be ornery! 🙂
It may help to have a guard dog, I think (real or virtual)!
lol. And truthfully I don’t really care about protecting my work. Maybe I would if I was doing it for money and I understand the concern.
The curse of Mary Malone made me laugh! I hope you come up with something that is just right for you.
I have thought about this issue, and still haven’t put one on my blogs. I do write poetry once in awhile and for that reason I probably should have one, too.
Blessings,
Theresa
It’s worth considering, if only to remind others.
Those are great warnings – I particularly love the second one!
Such clever people, these bloggers.
These are quite clever as I am sure yours will be. I have none on mine so I have no suggestions for now.
Ah, I like how you sashayed away from having to make a suggestion! (big smile)
Copyright including a Jamaican (sorry if this word is wrong) voodoo curse.
I will be searching around to find a Jamaican curse of the humorous kind!
I’ll be looking for it!
Picking up on the Shrub Queen, does the wily shape-shifter Anancy have a story to deal with this???
Aha! I’ll have to see how to do this in my warning. Of course, being also Canadian, I’m so darned polite that I might end up saying “Sorry!”at the end of it.
Here in the states I think the law says that the moment you create something the copyright is yours, so I don’t worry about notifications. I’ve had many people write and ask permission to use something and I’ve always given it.
Thanks, Allen. Because most of the photos I use are Hamlin’s, and also, I do features on painters, photographers, etc., it’s really important that people don’t take the pictures on my blog. I’ll have to find a way to remind readers of that.
More, the curse turns your breakfast into Scotch Bonnet peppers..daily, forever
I really like that one. Very clever girl person you are. A Jamaican curse that turns your breakfast wheaties into the strongest pepper around. Hmmm….
You have the technology!! Ghost Peppers? are people stealing your work?
Not that I know of, but after reading the various copyright warnings on other people’s blogs, I thought that I should have one too. (I want to be in fashion — tee hee…)
A blog fashionista? copyrightanista?
Love it!
I love the “pox on you”.
Stealing content without permission is so irritating.
It should be infra dig for every blogger to do that. However, I do know about the assumption some people make, that if it’s on the internet, is okay to use. So I need a little reminder so people know to ask permission first — and some other bloggers have been wonderful at doing just that.
I’ve been fighting thieves for some time. Time consuming, but and important it is done. Do not surrender.
Your post is the perfect reminder.
A really fun post Cynthia! I request that people ask my permission before using my photos but I haven’t had the courage to threaten thieves. I would be apologising like you!
Thanks, Clare. Maybe, since most of the photos I use are Hamlin’s, I should be protecting his copyright.
p.s. I just realized that Elizabeth has since changed her copyright notice to something far less dramatic. Gee wiz – I liked the previous one better.
More and more complicated! 😀 Your words are worth protecting. Poetry especially is very vulnerable. I liked Elizabeth’s original notice too!
I’m sort of resigned to the idea that people are going to use stuff without permission. Though I have thought of putting a watermark on Judy’s pictures.
I feel the same way about protecting Hamlin’s photos and those of other artists whom I write feature profiles about. How does one put a watermark on a blog photo, do you know, Jason?
I like them all – individualist to each writer. Am inspired to think of one of my own now too. Thanks for sharing:)
You are welcome. And thank you.
I really don’t know if anyone is stealing my blog posts or photos. But in my early days of blogging I had an unpleasant surprise when I discovered a dental company had apparently copied my posts. It was weird. It was after that surprise that I added the copyright notices. And I have had no trouble since then. A copyright notice with a Canadian ‘sorry’ in it would be wonderful. 🙂 “Please don’t steal my work. Sorry, but I really have to insist. Sorry.” 🙂
Yikes. They copied your posts without asking?
Good job you put the notice on, then.
I like your idea for a suitably apologetic Canadian notice.
You’re right–the examples you give are notable for their creativity and the way they reflect the bloggers who wrote them. I’ll be interested to see what you come up with–a little rhyme, maybe?
Hmm… a rhyme. That could be a challenge….
😀 I was on my way out the door and had to look up some directions when I saw this. I had to laugh. I’d forgotten that;s even on my blog since I never read my own copyrights and blog policy page. I was going to suggest a funny Jamaican curse, but the shrubqueen beat me to it. I still think it’s a cute idea. Thanks for the plug, Cynthia and I hope you’re having a fantastic New Year. ❤
Mine just says – Everything you see here is mine. I created it. If you like it, fine. If you want to use any of my images or words ask me first. You never know I might say yes. If you steal my stuff I will hunt you down. You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.
That is all.
I love your statement!
Although not a copyright notice, I am reminded of an elderly friend back east who crochets ornate blankets with 3-D roses. Really quite lovely! She would take them to nursing homes, and just give them out to residents who looked sad or in need. Then she started noticing on subsequent visits that the blankets were disappearing! Suspicious they were going home with staff, she went tot he head nurse and said all her blankets came with a curse, and if the blankets were not returned, she would activate the curse. Shortly thereafter, miraculously, blankets started reappearing. Seems the perpetrators could be appealed to on the superstitious level…
What a great story! I think the threat of a curse is probably more effective than any curse can be!
A wonderful post – a very good prompt for me! Thanks Cynthia …
Very clever! Love these. May you stay away from the hills of damnation:).
Thanks for the fun post, dear Cynthia. I doubt anyone would want to steal my prose, but I have found my nature photographs being used without permission. That made me decide to watermark them with my web address, and I haven’t noticed anymore ‘borrowed’ since.
If you right click on a picture you have the option to do a Google search on it and see if it shows up somewhere it’s not supposed to be. Ticks me off when I see that, but then my Canadian upbringing kicks into gear and I chalk it up to free publicity since my old greenlightlady watermark will lead viewers to me (and then hopefully to a curiosity about faith issues).
Blessings ~ Wendy (Thanks again for the giggles.)
Thanks for this reply, Wendy. I’m glad you are protecting your photos, and one day you may decide to protect your poetry and prose too. Meanwhile, please tell me: how does one put a watermark on a photo?
Cynthia, I use the Picasa 3 editing program my husband downloaded for me. I double click on a picture and then tap on the ABC option that allows me to print right onto the photo. It gives you options for font style, size, and color. And you can place it anywhere on the photo. Then you simply click save so that it will keep the edits you made until you click unsave. I hope this helps.
I’m a slow learner and so this is a basic photo editing program. I’m not sure I’ll ever tackle a more complicated one. 🙂
By the way, you and Chloris made me giggle. Blessings.
It’s good that we make each other giggle at times, isn’t it? Lord knows there are moments when a giggle is just the thing. Or a blogger friend sending you her tips for putting a watermark on photos – something you just didn’t have a clue about. Thank you, m’dear.
You’re welcome. Hugs. I only figured out yesterday how to pre-post a blog so it gets published while I’m still rubbing sleep out of my eyes. I had to Google it because I’m scared to push buttons without getting advice first. My kids help me figure stuff out too. 🙂
I have had my photos borrowed but that is all as far as I know.
I like the Mary Malone curse. Gaelic curses are good. Probably more effective than the one I like from a UK long running comedy ‘ Black Adder’.’ I curse you and hope something slightly unpleasant happens to you. Like an onion falling on your head’. On second thought perhaps this is too mild. A stronger curse from Black Adder is ‘ May your head fall off at an awkward moment’.
It makes you wonder if there is ever a good moment for your head to fall off.
Chloris, you made me laugh. How about “May your head fall off and land in your soup!” Nah. Too tame.
Here I am, late to the party … You can protect Hamlin’s photos by “ghosting” the symbol for Copyright and Hamlin’s name on them. (or yours.) I do that with my own photos and artwork, and likewise do the same for other photographers if I have used images from the photo banks I frequent. Text is hard to keep people from “borrowing”, and any warning about doing same, does need to be short or visitors with light fingers won’t even read it, but I think everyone with an idea for a funny curse is on the right track.
Thanks for this, Jeanne. I’ll ask Hamlin if he knows what Ghosting means.