I attended an interesting panel at last week's Internet Caucus State of the Net conference. The speakers examined the growth of blogging and "self publishing" and the different means for spreading messages via the blogosphere, including vlogs.  Internet Caucus has video of some of the conference events, but unfortunately not this particular session yet. The key issue of copyright in the blogosphere was discussed. While no one is suggesting that blog content be regulated by Congress or the FCC, there are some questions about the proper use of materials.  In the blogosphere, every links to everyone else.  We are sharing content and that's great.  But, what if someone posts a picture that is copyrighted by the artist? Is compensation due? About.com has some basic information

about blogs and copyright and here is a discussion among bloggers on copyright. An example of a potential blog copyright problem was offered by one of the panelists.  Say there is a blog dedicated to collecting old diner menus.  Pictures of these menus are posted.  Some of the artwork, such as logos, could be copyrighted.  But what if no one has claimed the copyright in years? The panelist, a staff member from the House Judiciary Committee, said they are trying to find a solution for these types of copyright problems.  The quicker they do that, the better. Quick aside, John Conyers, the Ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, has a blog. It is good that politicians who are considering these issues are participating in the blog world.  A small but growing number of members of Congress are blogging. It is going to be important to address the copyright issues for the blogosphere to continue to thrive. The free flow of information is critical.  Bloggers are typically very diligent about giving proper attribution to authors, photographers, and other creators of content. We need to keep it up, and work with policymakers to overcome some of the more complicated copyright questions.