Copyright Vs Shareright Issues - Why CheerOnNigeria May Sue Nairaland ??

Nairaland Just Copied "the Most Popular Posts" on CheerOnNigeria - should we meet them in Court?

Nairaland in its post "Top5 Sports Blogs in Nigeria" didn't even mention CheerOnNigeria as one of the top football blogs in Nigeria. No hard feeling about it. Maybe the blog didn't meet the standard or criteria for selection. Just the way I saw a blogger challenged a list, why Nairaland wasn't chosen as the best blog in Nigeria... but the compiler of the list went on to explain that Nairaland isn't a blog, but a forum - what's the difference anyway?

At first, I felt the publisher of the top5 list hasn't  come across CheerOnNigeria blog... "I wonder if that's possible!" and I was right, it wasn't the case.  Rather I found out that Nairaland had utterly spinned all of "the most popular posts" on CheerOnNigeria with different titles, but didn't  find it honorable enough to mention the blog for ranking - I think that's not fair!

I could show you evidence. Check out these two posts:

1. 10 most beautiful Stadium in Nigeria


2. Fifa Standard Rating: the ten most beautiful Stadiums in Nigeria

The posts are the same with slightly different titles. But to know which of the posts is the original writing, check the date and time for each of the publications... but should I sue Nairaland for Copyright infringement... for copying my original works?

No! I don't think so. Rather than feel infringed upon, I felt elated that one of the best websites in Nigeria saw my post too good to copy. As they say in blogging circles, the best form of flattering is done by other bloggers copying or sharing your work online. So rather than thinking of suing for infringement, I felt so flattered.

Don't get me wrong, copying other people's work without permission is copyright infringement and illegal. You may get the offender to pay you compensation through the law court. I guess I'm now sounding a bit  old school.

The Internet has changed all that. Perhaps, hard copy publications - books, magazines , videos... still protect their work through copyright law. Online publications seems to favor sharing their work for ranking... which has brought about the new syllabus "Copyshare" or "Shareright."

On most website and blog we usually find social media buttons that avail readers with the right to share  post on their social media walls. This is because every website strife to attract more traffic, followers and subscribers. So they look out for ways to further extend their reach.

I have been thinking about the copyright  terms and conditions on the footage of my blog,  and I sincerely think I should change it to copyshare terms.

Come to think of it, the terms are all there for fancy. Who's suing who? Every website or blog copy somehow from one another. There are spinning softwares that can in matter of seconds change the words and grammatical  usage of an article and make it look like new.

People repurpose other peoples work from written document to video or podcast... or even slideshare and infographs... without permission. So what is the need for the copyright terms and conditions on your website?

I for one, I use Nairaland to compile some kind of data... concerning public opinion on any matter I am researching on. And I have quoted people's opinion I lifted directly from Nairaland forum on my articles . I know that cannot be copyrighted. But what I am saying is Nairaland has also helped my job as a blogger and sport marketing consultant.

But what I do differently is this... I let my readers know where I got my statements, quotes, data and figures from. Courtesy demand that you do that. At least state, "Culled from CheerOnNigeria" or if you want to be reciprocal, post the blog url for linking and verifications.

Copy articles on CheerOnNigeria  if you like, No Problem! but be courteous enough to quote your source... by that we can gain better ranking - that's fairplay or what do you think?