Behaving well and legally online (Netiquette)

In order to understand how other people’s behavior can affect us online, it is important to check our own behavior(netiquette). Many services or tools support collaboration and communication by publishing a set of rules or etiquette expected of community members. These often include things like respecting other people’s right to express their own opinion, being kind to others, using appropriate language and contributing in a way that supports others.

Most websites have a link to  Terms and Conditions which might include legal statements about who owns the content on the site.  Similarly, there are instructions on how you can use it in other contexts. Often, these conditions relate to respecting a creator’s right to be acknowledged for their work. This is to ensure that people do not steal or wrongly use content. People use licenses to highlight how people can use or reuse the content they have created. This can relate to a range of different media including, text, images, video and audio.

Licensing

Some licenses can be very restrictive. If you spot a © symbol and the words “All Rights Reserved” it’s an indication that the creator does not want you to copy or modify the content. Under the terms of the Berne Convention, Copyright is assigned automatically. If you see no statement or license, then you should assume that you cannot copy or modify the content. However, if you have the author’s permission you can use it. Not everyone who publishes content is fully aware of issues around licensing. They may not have thought about how other people use their content. If in doubt it is good practice to always check with the author or creator.

Other licenses are more permissive and seek to encourage people to reuse the content. In this instance a creator can use Creative Commons licenses or other open licenses. This is to indicate exactly how you can use the content.

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