Wow! Published writer, Adam Daifallah who shared the limelight with me in yesterday's Sun "Best of the Blogs", is somewhat upset that he was not consulted for permission to quote some material, even though due credit was given.
We are now debating the whole situation on his excellent blog.
Personally, I think it's like the Wild West out here in cyberspace, but perhaps there should be some standards of courtesy and law regarding copyright issues, if there aren't already. If MSM wants to quote something from a blog, it would be difficult to get the author's permission if an email address is not provided on the site (of course in this case, Adam's is available on his website).
My favourite radio talkshow host often reads "Letters to the Editor" from the local paper. Should he be making an effort to (a) get the newspaper's permission first and (b) checking with the letter writer as well?
I think if you put stuff out there, be prepared to have it quoted. Copying material and using it as your own is a whole different thing.
Ironically, today's blog spot in the Sun is quoting Norman Spector referring to European media reports about a story on Brigette Bardot. So we have a MSM quoting a blogger quoting MSM, and here I am referring to all of it. I'm getting a headache!
Last December, my letter that the National Post had published about Belinda Stronach, ended up on Norman's blog as his pick for 'Letter of the Day' ("The Politics of Shoes"). I was quite flattered, but only happened across it by accident when I was googling my name (yes, I do that too...) Nobody asked my permission, and that letter was reproduced in its entirety.
What should we do? Form a union and go on strike? Lobby the government for better pay and working conditions?
The first thing I'd better do is contact Adam about referring to his blog!
13 comments:
HILARIOUS.
I completely agree 100%. Excellent posting today I love the wit involved. It's a BLOG it is essentially public property on the internet. People can quote as they like and if you don't want yourself quoted, don't have a blog.
Keep up the good word Jo!
Thanks, Riley. Still haven't heard back from Adam. I see from his bio that he's studying law. Maybe he's busy preparing a suit against me.
Good post, but describing my reaction as "somewhat upset" is a bit much. I merely noted that when we did this at the National Post, we contacted the author first. (In fact, we didn't even contact them each time we used their posts -- just once to ask if it would be OK to "pluck" from their blogs from that point onward. Some refused.) This seemed like a good practice to me, and I wonder if the Sun should be doing the same thing. One could argue that the Post was publishing entire blog posts while the Sun only prints small excerpts, thus no need to ask. Maybe. But as a simple courtesy -- even just to make sure the author knows to buy the paper that day! (I didn't) -- it would be nice if authors were informed.
All good points, Adam, and sorry if I overstated your reaction. O.K. How about "mildly annoyed" or "minutely indignant"? For anything else, I may have to consult my Thesaurus.
In any case, you may have given the Sun something to ponder regarding how they treat intellectual property extracted from blogs, if they happen by here again.
My thoughts? Get over it. If you don't want anyone to quote you, stop writing. I think it would be very flattering to have a blog quoted in the paper. This is such a little thing to be worried about - but I guess that is how lawyers make money...
Derik, no one needs feel compelled to engage in a debate. It's a free country. Riley has been more than patient. He could have blown you away in his blog.
If you want to engage in a respectful, meaningful debate, then I'm willing to listen, and possibly participate.
Hey Joanne,
Charles Adler did a story about Plattytalk for one of his Saturday columns in the Sun, if you google "Plattytalk Adler" you will find the article.( yea, I do that too), he never did ask my permission and I guess I could have raised a fuss as it was an e-mail I sent that he quoted.
The fact of the matter is, we are out there for people to read, my thoughts were that more people would read Plattytalk because of it. So I guess if you want to keep it all for yourself, better get a trademark and a copyright.
Kelly, to be fair to Adam, it seems I exaggerated his concern that the Sun didn't consult him first. But, yeah, when you blog you have to expect to be quoted. I just found out that I had been quoted on someone else's blog tonight. Well, actually, that's not the first time. It's certainly a courtesy to let them know though.
Hey Platty! That is so cool about you and Adler. I googled you (did it tickle?), and I found the article and your blog. Wow. That would have been quite a surprise, and an awesome tribute!
His message was profound - Don't take yourself too seriously. There is definitely a lesson here for all of us.
we comment in the public eye, if you complain when the public reads it then you shouldn't blog...
not you joanne I like your blog :)
I like yours too, Sara. :)
As soon as I can get my 22 year-old in-house tech support guy to help me, I'm going to add a permanent link to your page on my site. I'm still cyber-challenged in so many ways.
thank you I will do the same,,, how do you feel about my argument today on the welfare mom?
Sara, did you remove that? I can't find it now.
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