After all, online dating is supposed to be about representing yourself to others.

It’s the same there as it is anywhere else on the site. So with the photos and bio, the rule is fairly simple: Post only work that you have created or have permission to post. While many sites have you answer questions, take surveys or generate a profile of their members, those elements are either created by the site, and thus owned by them, or are not copyrightable. Most online dating profiles typically have two copyrightable components contributed by the user, the photos of the person and the bio/description of them. The first element is actually the easiest to discuss and the best place to start. When it comes to copyright, there are two components to consider: How to avoid infringing the copyrights of others and how to protect your work from infringement by others. Online dating is much like regular social media and posting anywhere else online. Staying Out of Copyright Trouble While Dating Online

Your profile isn’t just your chance at love, it might be someone else’s chance for profit. The simple truth is that online dating isn’t just about love, it’s also a big business, one worth an estimate $2 billion per year and growing. While there’s a definite stereotype of an online dater ripping off images and prose to make themselves look better to potential mates, what’s less discussed is the other half of the question, namely the person whose work is lifted.Īnd then comes the more serious and disconcerting issue of who is really doing the the lifting? While sometimes it is a desperate online dating site member, it very often is a commercial interest, including spammers and even the dating sites themselves. researchers, 1 out of every 3 marriages in the country began online and tens of millions of other people are trying their luck, setting up profiles, searching for matches and hoping o find love.īut while many of the perils of online dating are pretty well known, one of the lesser-discussed issues with online dating is the copyright and plagiarism issues that arise from it.īut what’s interesting about the issue isn’t that it exists, but the perception of it.

Stockmaster profiles on dating sites