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A lot of this particular group is about grabbing content for our sites. By grabbing, I mean using material that we did not write ourselves.
Sometimes literature is listed as public domain and that means anyone can use it any time they please for any purpose they please.
I want to point out, however, that we still did not write this material.
It is important when using ANY information as is without rewriting it that we give credits to the entity from which we received the material. If you, for instance, get material from Gutenberg or NASA and publish it on your site - a simple: Compliments of Project Gutenberg or Compliments of NASA after the material just as you would give author credits if posting an article someone else wrote is in order.
Why do we need to do this if there is nothing stipulating we must do so? For simple matters of Honesty and Courtesy. Firstly - the people whose sites you are jacking the material from like traffic, too and will appreciate the courtesy. They will think more highly of you for mentioning them. Secondly - if someone recognizes that material and you haven't credited it, even if there was no legal necessity of doing so, you look like a shister if you don't. There is no embarrassment in using material that someone else produces. It doesn't make you any less of an authority to share someone else's intelligence with others. It does make you seem shady and possibly untrustworthy to leave that credit off of material that isn't yours.
Crediting material makes you look approachable. It gives the feel that you are looking at everyone else's viewpoints and are a sharer when you find something you feel is an intelligent or witty piece of work. Crediting material even when not necessary is just giving the world a good dose of that old Carnegie "winning friends and influencing people" spirit.
Whether an image or document or video - if you use it and didn't produce it - or didn't have it ghost written especially for your own use and credit --- always give your source.
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