Content Creators: Beware the Copyright Bots
Avoid this $1200 mistake I made
You know how Medium says they won’t curate your stories if you don’t attribute all your images? Be thankful. They’re saving you from yourself … and from the trolls and copyright bots too!
This is not science fiction. They’re real. Read on to learn how not to make the one mistake that could’ve cost me my reputation and my freelancing career.
An Exciting New Project With No Rules
A couple of years ago, a company hired me to help them create a website. They wanted something that was more journalistic. We wouldn’t be modernizing a site, but working alongside a team, building one from scratch. So, we made the rules up along the way.
I was publishing stories every day. It was exhilarating to build each one myself. Our layout became standardized, and each story needed at least one beautiful photo.
The company had its own collection of gorgeous photography, and we had a subscription to a stock photo site. We didn’t worry too much. The photos were ours, and we could prove it — though we never thought we’d have to.
Then one of the company’s execs decided he wanted more content … daily, a regular news cycle — something more than the tiny staff they’d…
