Who Owns Weblog Content?

dirvish writes "Information Week has a story discussing copyright issues and legal rights associated with employee blogs and RSS readers. Recently, some companies have come out with formal weblog policies and others have fired employees for inappropriate blogging. With an increase in official company blogs, and some large companies like Microsoft and Google offering popular blogging services, the issues become even more clouded. Some bloggers are beginning to speak out about corporate and government control, others would probably prefer to not risk their jobs."

Comments

Common sense...

[winkydink]

You are still bound by any agreements you have with your employer when you blog, especially if you represent yourself as an employee.

On a slightly-related note: Has anybody else noticed that Information Week has been getting awfully thin these past few issues? Trouble on the horizon?

Re:Common sense...

[Lord_Dweomer]

"You are still bound by any agreements you have with your employer when you blog, especially if you represent yourself as an employee."

BINGO! This is such an important point, I hope they bring it up if this ever goes to court. This is simply a new medium for speech which would be regulated by currently existing contracts signed at hiring. There's already rules about what you can and can't say about your employer, why should the web be any different? (Unless you're whistle blowing perhaps)

And aside from legal aspects of this, its a pretty well known fact that if you start talking shit about a company you work for, sooner or later, they'll find a way to get rid of you without you getting wrongful termination. It just never works out. If you want to say things about your company, be smart, do it anonymously, and don't let it get traced back to you in dumb ways like using special info that would make it obviously you or by telling people.

And on the internet, remember that it takes the existing rule of "you never know who people know" where you be careful of what you say because you never know who it can get back to and magnifies it because not only do you never know who people know, but you don't even know if the people are the people they say they are.

I own my own weblog content.

[IO ERROR]

This is really simple. I don't talk about my job on my blog. I don't write blog entries from work. My blog is not hosted by my employer. They have nothing to do with my blog, and if they want to try to exercise any control over my blog, they can go to hell.

Re:I own my own weblog content.

[orcrist]

I see no problem with firing employees that refuse to curtail major, avoidable, unnatural risk factors that cost the company money.

So there's no problem with firing someone who goes skiing or skydiving in their free time? How about swimming? Or most sports for that matter. All risk factors. Maybe not as high as with smoking but who determines what is major? Then there's travel. Some countries are more dangerous than others; will employers have lists of 'approved' destinations for vacation? For that matter living in or visiting certain parts of many U.S. cities can increase your risk factor: "We didn't fire him because he's black, we fired him because he was visiting the ghetto where he grew up: a major, avoidable, unnatural risk factor!"

I know this is a slippery slope argument, but the point is that saving the company money shouldn't trump your freedom to spend your free time as you see fit. Life is dangerous and uncertain. You can't put everything on a balance sheet when it comes to human beings, and as long as companies are hiring human beings then they need to consider that to be the *company's* risk factor. After all there are still laws which prevent discrimination against handicapped people, even if it costs more money, and even if they are handicapped because they fell asleep at the wheel or broke their neck horse-back riding (both avoidable risk factors).

-chris

The company should own things that concern them

[chris09876]

People should really treat blogs just like anything that they would say in public. Most companies have IP agreements, or nondisclosure agreements. If an employee posts something that violates that agreement, then the company can ask them to take it down. People have a right to talk about their personal lives, but when you work for someone else, you usually have to agree not to disclose private information about them. Blogs are just a natural extension of that rule.

Re:The company should own things that concern them

[robbo]

People should really treat blogs just like anything that they would say in public.

Trouble is, many people forget what 'in public' really means. It doesn't mean grousing about your job to a small group of friends. When you complain about management on your blog, you might as well have called a press conference, made your comments and had it play on CNN. Every night. Forever. Sooner or later the boss is going to catch wind. And that's when it gets tricky-- you haven't broken any NDA's, you're just advertising your dissatisfaction with your employer. That's probably enough reason for them to express their dissatisfaction with your job performance...

Personal Websites

[SteveX]

A blog is no different than a personal website; folks have had those since the dawn of the web.

Read your employment agreement; if you're still not sure talk to your HR folks. Better safe than sorry.

It depends.

[BlueThunderArmy]

I would think who owns the content would depend on some very simple criteria, but ones which often lead to legal battles.

If an employee blogs for or as a representative of her company, the company owns the material.

If an employee blogs on her own time, and on matters unrelated to the company, the author owns the material.

If an employee blogs on her own time, but on matters related to the company and identifying herself with the company, she owns the material but will likely face consequences.

I wouldn't blog

[WormholeFiend]

on my employer's weblog anymore than I would post my opinion on my employer's bulletin boards.

I think that if you want to avoid being quoted as saying stuff, or avoid having someone steal your ideas, then maybe you should choose another medium.

You're Not in Oz, Dorothy

[ackthpt]

Meanwhile there are people arguing free speech rights only apply when the government is attempting to restrict them, conveniently ignoring the fact that if there were any multinational corporations around when the founders set this place up maybe the Bill of Rights would have been a little tighter.

If you don't like your employer's attitude on these issues, you're still free to walk, you don't need a pair of ruby slippers to click three times and wish you were home. Enough people have the guts to walk out on an oppressive employer they may get the message, particularly if you mention it in an exit interview.

I've disagreed with employers and managers (who may or may not represent the employer above their own ego) and spoken my mind a number of times. It's usually best to form a plan to address grievances rather than uttering disparaging remarks in the break room or anonymously on the web or in the news. If there's nothing to be gained then have the intelligence to go. I truly despise hearing people whine about how they hate what's going on in their workplace, but don't do anything about it.

Lesson from anon.penet.fi

[powdered toast dude]

Anonymity on the Internet is a dubious prospect at best in most cases. Unless you're using a hijacked or unpaid public connection, I recommend you assume you are speaking your views as yourself publicly, and accept accountability for doing so.

Remember anon.penet.fi? As soon as the heat came down, so did the veil of anonymity.

$0.02,
ptd

Re:The problem you're speaking about...

[Xzzy]

I know it's a wildly unpopular concept with a lot of the tech crowd, but that's the sort of thing that unions were created to prevent. You think EA would be raping it's employees if it's workers were unionized?

Not a fan of unions myself, but history suggests it'll get results.

Not sure what the fuss is....

[catdevnull]

OK, I'm fairly liberal on the issue of Freedom of Speech. But, if you're:

• Blogging on company time
• Blogging bad about your company
• Blogging about how much you hate your job
• Blogging out information that should stay behind company doors

I think you're asking for trouble. Your freedom of speech covers your political muscle not libel or slander. As an employee, there should be some respect for the boundaries expected of you. If you're fairly sure you have a right to say something, be sure to follow the same rules to which journalists are supposedly accountable: integrity, truth, and accuracy. No one should be able to fire you for that. But, if you're expected to maintain a sense of decorum or have signed a disclosure agreement, maybe you should respect the rights and privacy of the company or those about whom you're blogging. Otherwise, do something to obfuscate your identity--but bloggers love to be exhibitionists.

Personally, I think blogging is a bit of a strange habit because I'm an introvert and I don't think the world wants or cares to know about my feelings, political orientation, or how much I loathe/love my job, family, pets, or celebrities.

I do like to post occassional anecdotes, etc. but as a rule, I try to respect others and not type something I wouldn't want them to read. Or, if it's unflattering, I'll try to find some way to not assassinate their character but to find fault in the action.

The world is full of too many myopic opinionated people who care little about the effects of their words or actions. I think, we as internet denizens, should be careful to promote change with careful and constructive criticism and express ourselves with honesty without malice--even on blogs.

BTW: Bloggers suck. (Just kidding)

Not just blogging services

[mdavids]

I recently aquired a virtual server in the US, and under "Unacceptable Content" in the terms of service, it said the following:

Other unacceptable content includes but is not limited to: sites promoting or discussing any domestic or international political issues...

As a non-US citizen this strikes me as frighteningly extreme. On the other hand, this is a country where people can be abducted by the state, imprisoned without charge and tortured (legally, according to the attorney general), so if I were running an Internet service in the US, I'd probably be reluctant to argue my clients' free speech rights too strenuously.

Let's assume (because I can't be bothered with research) that these clauses are becoming commonplace in hosting agreements. Well, you could always host your political website yourself. Except I imagine retail ISPs and other upstream bandwidth providers will also want to be seen to be doing their bit for homeland security, and adjust their TOS documents accordingly.

So where will you go for free political debate in the US? Call in to Rush Limbaugh? Meet in the dead of night in a cellar behind a cast-iron door with a peephole and a large armed man asking for the password ("crossfire")?