Web Content: from Fabulous to Frankenstein

[ArticleBot]

This is an article discussion thread for discussing the SitePoint article, "Web Content: from Fabulous to Frankenstein"

[GreenBoy2000]

SO - exactly how much of this original article can I copy paste into my own site, and get away with it?

Good article, with some great name dropping for which I hope you are richly rewarded.

I guess the follow up to this should be a clear, palin english description of what actualy is acceptable under copyright law and what is not.. because its potentialy a minefield.

look forward to more articles like this.

[linkin99]

Very interesting article. Good resources for those looking to create a content rich site. I like the fact that EzineArticles was mentioned. I haven't been there for a very long time.

[scattermachine]

Nice article... Thank you!

I visited the 2 sites mentioned for free articles and would like to know how people who use them would rate their services.

I would also be interested in seeing a list of the best, most reputable free-article sites, and what features distinguish them from the many others available.

[raycampbell]

Interesting article.

I figured the Frankenstein sites would only last a few weeks to months before Google figured out a way to nuke them from the listings. That they continue to get top rankings (making Google a whole lot less useful as a search engine) indicates that Google is either not quite as awesome as I thought or as dedicated to delivering good results as I would have expected (could it be that the AdSense clickthroughs are a lot higher when garbage Frankenstein pages come up, making Frankenstein pages more profitable to Google? Someone please tell me that AdSense profitability in no way affects Google rankings.).

One drawback to the article - the writer talks a lot about what is and is not legal, and he clearly does not know diddly about the law. He makes some bold assertions that are just blazingly ignorant. As an editorial matter, Sitepoint needs to give some minimal review to articles like this when legal assertions are made. Keeping web developers from displaying their ignorance about the law probably can't be helped in the context of the forums, but there's no excuse for having it in the professionally written articles.

[Octal]

I suspect different countries have different laws concerning copyright infringement. This article seems to be referencing US law not neccesarily (sp?) UK or Spanish law

[billnad]

The other side of this article should be the writers that write articles hoping that other webmasters pick up that article with the link to gain more backlinks fro sites. If I write a good quality article I do not mind someone else copying it IF they include a byline to my site.

[purasangre]

Originally Posted by Octal

I suspect different countries have different laws concerning copyright infringement. This article seems to be referencing US law not neccesarily (sp?) UK or Spanish law

That is true. Countries and states can have different laws of the land. Thus, it is better if you will be acquainted with your land's copyright law and others as well to preclude you from future trouble.

[ChrisRoss]

Article lacked resources to one of the most important (in my eyes) sections

"Top of the Content Food Chain: Professional Writers"

Two copywriters and no other resources for original content?? I can think of dozens of ways to find "professional, well paid and talented web content copywriters". I’m not sure if the article was meant to plug these two only or what, but it sure seems that way.

As for the

shockingly poorly-paid writers exploited by savvy content resellers

section the article discusses one particular instance a person from the WSJ had with a some random bidder, on some random bidding site. You can take even the largest and well respected of bidding sites (like ebay) and have 5000 great bidders and one bad one.

The bottom line is if your buying anything that looks to good to be true (TV, Car, house, SEO, writing) you should do some research. Research the seller, the company, and what the going rate is for that service or product. If I see a car for sale for $200, I'm assuming something is wrong with it.... just like anything else.

Other then these issues this was a good information piece for content online. It would have been nice to see more info on filing formal Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) since this is not as simple as emailing Google.

I enjoyed this article, but it betrays a lack of understanding of what copywriters do versus what article writers do.

Certainly, it can be smart to include free articles on your site, provided, of course, that no copyrights are infringed and that the author is credited and treated with respect.

But as a professional copywriter, I can tell you that copywriters who care about their work study hard and practice a lot to learn to write persuasively. SEO can get people to your site, but mediocre copywriting can drive them away.

You will pay an arm and a leg if you hire the famous copywriters, like Nick Usborne. And if your product or service is a good fit, most of them will be worth every penny.

But there are plenty of copywriters out there, some good, some bad, charging a wide range of fees.

I can't comment at length about the value of copywriting (maybe I should write an article about it here!). But I do want to emphasize the fact that this is a different animal, so to speak, than article writing.

Namaste,

Janet