It's a Community, so "Do Unto Others...."

There are many, many issues to contemplate and discuss with regard to intellectual property and social media. Though several years old, this post from the Legalzoom blog captures many of the key legal considerations.  

One of the most important considerations -- to me at least – isn’t legal. Rather, it’s the issue of what happens to one’s reputation, or that of the brand we represent, if we fail to respect another’s work by using it without permission or attribution.

Social media sometimes has a wild west feel to it, like you can get away with nearly anything. Indeed, we’ve all seen posts on Facebook or other social media that fail to give credit where credit is due. But for me it all comes down to this: when we engage in social media, we are participating in a community. As members of a community, each of us has a responsibility to respect others and to respect the work they produce.

However, it's awfully difficult to monitor this in the social world. I see content every day that’s posted or shared without attribution. Even though many content producers now want their material spread as far and wide as possible, we shouldn’t make assumptions. Rather, we should follow the age-old "Do Unto Others...." rule.