Content marketing allows businesses to connect with their target audience using high-quality, relevant, value-adding content. Unlike outbound marketing, it doesn’t involve directly advertising a product or service. Instead, content marketing revolves around useful, valuable content that a business’s audience wants to read or access. If you’re thinking about using this strategy to attract and engage your business’s audience, though, you should familiarize yourself with Intellectual Property laws.

Read the Terms of Services Before Sharing Content

Image Credit: Yesserie.com

Different social media networks and community-driven sites have terms of services regarding what you can and cannot publish. On Pinterest, for example, you can repin content already posted to the platform only if it was originally posted by the author or with the author’s permission. If someone steals a photo from a professional photographer’s website and posts it on Pinterest, you cannot repin it. On Facebook, you can usually share another users’ content by using the “Share” button. You cannot, however, copy the content and create a new post. To protect yourself from potential copyright allegations, familiarize yourself with the terms of service of all platforms on which you publish or share content.

Keep Records of All Licenses

Image Credit: Traskbritt Patents

When purchasing usage rights to publish or otherwise use content, keep detailed records of all licenses and the respective content to which they are associated. If you use royalty-free stock photos on your website, for instance, you may need to protect yourself from litigation if the author claims you infringed upon his or her copyright. While most stock photo websites keep records of past purchases, it’s a good idea to create your own records.

Only Publish Content You Own or Have Permission to Publish

The golden rule of content marketing is only to publish content that you own or have permission to publish. Copying an article from a news website and posting it on your website is a clear violation of copyright infringement. The only exception to this rule is when the content is in public domain. As explained by TechTarget, copyright law does not protect public domain content. Therefore, you are free to publish, copy, share and alter it.

Learning about copyrights and patents can be confusing, to say the least. With the internet now a part of our everyday lives, however, it’s safe to say that IP laws are here to stay. By following these tips, you can create an effective content marketing strategy without infringing upon others’ copyright.