This article explains whether RSS feeds are copyrighted. In short, the answer is YES.
What is RSS?
Websites are normally accessed with a web browser. RSS is a technology that allows a webpage (blog, etc.) to be accessed without a web browser. RSS can be accessed by many tools, including an RSS reader, which is software that allows you to view the RSS feeds of many websites at once.
RSS is still widely used. Podcasts are distributed through RSS feeds, and many news sites and blogs still publish feeds for feed readers and apps.
Are RSS Feeds Copyrighted?
In the United States, the author of any written material generally owns a copyright on that material. Since RSS is merely a way to access that material, the material is still copyrighted. RSS doesn’t change anything. Whether you use an RSS tool or a web browser to access material, the material is still copyrighted.
In other words, laws apply to new technology just as they would to traditional materials (books, brochures, etc.).
Is Republishing an RSS Feed Considered Copyright Infringement?
In general, copying material without permission of the copyright owner is copyright infringement. There is an interesting legal question raised by RSS. By making your website available by RSS, are you granting permission for others to republish your RSS feed?
RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication, and some have argued that syndication means the owner agrees to republishing. A federal appeals court rejected that argument in MidlevelU, Inc. v. ACI Information Group, 989 F.3d 1205 (11th Cir. 2021). A content aggregator copied a blog’s articles from its RSS feed and published them in its own subscription service, and the court affirmed a jury verdict that the aggregator infringed the blog’s copyright. The court held that the aggregator had not shown an industry practice “that would allow a jury to infer that disseminating content—regardless of how much—through an RSS feed without restrictions implies permission to copy and publish that content on another website.” In short, a feed lets people read your content; it does not, by itself, give them permission to republish it.
If you want to display another site’s feed, such as a news or sports publisher’s headlines, start with the publisher’s terms of use for its feeds. Many publishers post terms that allow headlines and short summaries linking back to their site, and that forbid copying full articles or using their logos. If the terms do not cover your use, ask the publisher for written permission before you display the feed.
Are Scrapers Violating Copyrights?
Scrapers are software tools that copy material off one website and post the material to a website owned by the person using the scraper. When scrapers copy material without permission of the copyright owner, copyright infringement may occur, though copying that qualifies as fair use under 17 U.S.C. § 107 is not an infringement. Read above (“Is republishing an RSS feed considered copyright infringement?”).
What Can I Do if My Website is Illegally Copied?
I answered this question and some others on these posts:
If you want to protect your material, or if you need to defend yourself in a copyright lawsuit, I would be glad to talk with you about your situation.
