A few short days after I read the Blog-Op article about the fact that Mud Sticks-Content Theft Or Not, I witnessed an exchange on a forum I recently joined where one blog author accused another of image theft.

These types of accusations, true or false, damage both the reputations of the accuser and the accused. I read the exchange of the former and the one-sided accusations of the latter and I find that the accusations are unfounded in both cases. Neither of the accusers appeared to ask anything of the accused before making the accusations. They made assumptions that the accused parties were guilty before getting the facts.

Many blog authors use images from other sources. Some don't realize that the images in question are not to be used anywhere else. Usually, attribution of the source and/or linking to the source is all that is required to satisfy the holder of the copyright. The worst case scenario involves removing images at the copyright holder's request. Sometimes it's not that easy. Due to the increased number of legitimate image sharing sites, a blog author may obtain an image from a source that was not authorized to possess it. This is the point where open lines of communication should occur before accusations are made or legal action is taken.

I was accused of copyright infringement when I published a copy of a web comic in Lesbians!. The author's name and website were not visible in the image that I found via StumbleUpon. I made the mistake of not stating where I found it and the author/artist found it and thought I had taken it from his website. After a few email messages were exchanged, he understood and only asked that I link to his website, which I did willingly and without any thoughts of malice. He's been back to my blog many times because of the referrals coming from my blog.

Out of curiosity, I did a Google search for the title of my recent article, The Power of Positive Thinking. I was shocked to find other articles with titles almost exactly the same. Although I never saw those before I wrote my article, I can see how someone might think I was plagiarizing or infringing on their content copyrights. This is the case of the first accusation I mentioned above. When millions of active blog authors (yes, millions) are continuously writing new articles, it's only a matter of time before one author writes an article that is very similar to one that has already been written. Coincidence does not equal causality.

The effect of the accusations is that many readers will no longer trust the writings of either the accusers or the accused parties. It's better, much better, to collect your facts and keep the mud-slinging away from the public until all other recourses are exhausted.