Resource Review #5 - RSS: Use, Lose, or Abuse?

Manafy, M. RSS: Use, Lose, or Abuse?. EContent v. 29 no. 8 (October 2006) p. 6.

This was a very interesting article because it discussed a topic related to RSS feeds that I had not previously acknowledged or heard much about in my research thus far.
The author, Michelle Manafy, writing for EContent Magazine, takes on the challenge of asking difficult questions concerning the legalities of RSS generated content and the problems facing publishers that want to use RSS feeds. For example, she draws attention to the fact that many corporations are using RSS to import content related to their business on their websites. Therefore, cashing in on content created by other people. Conversely, what are the rules if a regular person wanted to publish RSS feeds from various sources on her/his own website?

Well, Manafy poses this question to some of her colleagues out in the on-line community. The responses she received were varied and inconclusive. One response reads, "RSS headlines are a clear example of 'content wanting to be free,' to paraphrase the great Yuri Rubinsky," says Bob Doyle. He believes that RSS feeds are created to be published elsewhere, therefore their nature is free.
Fred Meeker of Banner & Witcoff suggests that concerning RSS, we should pay more attention to implied license, instead of focusing on copyright and fair use issues. He argues that because RSS is created to be distributed, silence or lack of objection functions as the agreement between content creators and publishers.
Then, on the opposite side of the coin weighs in Peter Strand, partner of the law firm Holland & Knight, who believes that RSS is just as covered by copyright law as other short publications, such as headlines.

Manafy effectively points out their are many uncertainties regarding the nature of RSS content and the ways in which they are published. Ultimately , she calls for thoughtfulness and action in regard to the myriad of legalities surrounding RSS generated content with her article.