Legal Rights of Bloggers [Creativity of the Ordinary #1]

1. Legal Rights of Bloggers - you've got to type for your write to party

In these days of subtle rights curtailment and technological advancements, the realms of expression find themselves in a dichotomous landscape of possiblity. On one end we have tools like Podcasts, Blogs, Video Casts and more, which allow even the most amateur artist to participate in public creation. On the other side is the need to protect this content explosion should the creator so wish to so. With the bundle of rights that a creator of conventional expressions receives, the new technology gives us a chance to adapt existing protections, as well as pioneer exciting new legal doctrine.

As the artforms evolve and we test the boundaries of possibility we see ways to reach our audiences that may have seemed out of reach only two or three years ago. Blooks (books based on blogs) are becoming very popular. There are even awards shows that celebrate the best of this new media, and simple online publishing processes (see Lulu) should one want to make the jump from blog to blok to book.

The EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) makes it their mission to ensure that creators of online and other digital content that want to protect that expression are educated about what their rights are. They provide free information, as well as lists of resources to turn to should you need to protect that which you have created. In this first installment of our ongoing feature Creativity of the Ordinary I find it pertinent to put power into your hands. Yes dear readers, know that as we improve upon what once seemed silly science fantasy and we become connected even closer in our ability to share, you do have rights. To hear from some of the experts click on the banner below.

Read EFF's Legal Guide for Bloggers

In the the next installment of Creativity of the Ordinary we will look at a topic that I have been passionate about since I first started writing poetry at the teen angst tender age of 15: "the @mercian coffee shop." Consider this our mini-feature within a feature. For chapters of "the @merican coffee shop" we will be discussing the value of individuality in these establishments by featuring posts of local coffee shops with that bit of character that makes them so special. In doing so I hope to explore the dangers of genericide should "Starbucks" or "Dunkin Donuts" become part of our substituted lexicon for the "coffee shop," much the way "Xerox" or "Cleanex" have done to the "photocopier" or the "tissue." Until next time...