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AP Lawsuit Laughably Says Media Shouldn't Steal
Conversations With God Author Lamest Plagiarist Ever
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The new barbarians: Forbes pillages from Biz 2.0

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Nicorette
02/19/09

In reply to AP Lawsuit Laughably Says Media Shouldn't Steal
Actually, "much of newsgathering" involves me going and talking to sources and covering meetings and going from there. Should my competitors have something I don't have and I need to write about it, there's a big difference between me doing my own reporting on/writing of it, and me clicking copy/paste on their story. No on owns the event that happens that is newsworthy, but we do own our reporting on and writing of the story about the newsworthy event.
I am enormously tired of this belief that somehow news stories should be given away for free, and the mocking of "old media" for losing money. It costs money to pay people who are experienced with actual journalism -- with going out, gathering information, and writing about it in an informed way. Merely linking to a news story and adding some commentary is not journalism. No matter what bloggers think.
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Trixie from Toronto
02/19/09

@Nicorette: Yes. Thank you! And I love blogs; I read as many blogs as I do newspapers. But the notion that bloggers are ahead of newspapers is just not true. Even Ben Smith of Politico, who does great original reporting -- he also links more than half the time to stories that newspaper or magazine reporters who spent a lot of time and resources getting those stories. It's a myth that blogs are ahead of the pack right now.
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Tremonius
02/19/09

In reply to AP Lawsuit Laughably Says Media Shouldn't Steal
There's an important issue here about who owns the news. My own interpretation of Pleurisy v. Dopplganger (Fannin Count Archives) is that those who create it, own it, the same as bran muffins and 78 RPM vinyl. Why should the retailers make all the revenue from whatever scene I might make out on the street?

I'll take my answer on the air.
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drunkexpatwriter
02/19/09

@Tremonius:

Does this mean that the Washington Post, the New York Times and the AP owe Scooter Libby a fucking fortune?
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Tremonius
02/19/09

@drunkexpatwriter: Nah. He's in retail. Yellowcake Cheney created the story. Only he's trying to hide from his due recognition, and caselaw is silent on them sort of intrigues.
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SidAndFinancy
02/19/09

In reply to AP Lawsuit Laughably Says Media Shouldn't Steal
The bar I was in last night had a sign that said, "NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR LOST OR STOLEN ITEMS." So we know that the Spring Lounge is not to blame.
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drunkexpatwriter
02/19/09

In reply to AP Lawsuit Laughably Says Media Shouldn't Steal
Wait.

AP steals all the fucking time, though to be fair they often pay for it.

I can remember covering major crime and major trials in New Jersey and having one of the AP guys call me up on a regular basis for verdicts and or indictments and if I had anything he wanted paying me a "stringer fee."

I can also remember breaking stories only to have the on the AP within and hour of our paper being published.

Usually they would take the 20 inch story I published, cut it down to four or five inches - but still using my exact same words - but not give me or my paper any credit for it.
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DahlELama
02/19/09

@drunkexpatwriter: "AP steals all the fucking time, though to be fair they often pay for it."

Er, perhaps you'd like to look up the definition of theft again?
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drunkexpatwriter
02/19/09

@DahlELama: Well, here's the thing, they were paying me a stringer fee, not the paper I worked for.

And I was getting the information on my paper's time. And I was too young to understand the difference.

If I was a journalist now I'd have told them to fuck off or get my editor to approve it before I gave them anything.
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Trixie from Toronto
02/19/09

@Aaron Altman: They are totally in the right on the Shepard Fairey case. It's their image! And it wasn't like it was some iconic photo that was everywhere. It was an obscure AP photo taken from an event AP covered. No one asked for permission to use it, no one paid a fee to get it -- it's copyright infringement.
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Trixie from Toronto
02/19/09

In reply to AP Lawsuit Laughably Says Media Shouldn't Steal
That is actually a total misrepresentation of how AP works. It's a news co-operative. In exchange for sending out stories to all AP member news organizations, those organizations make their stories available to AP. It's a news-sharing co-operative. So no, they're not stealing smaller papers' material. Those small papers make the stories available in exchange for getting other small papers' stories made available to them through AP. As is often the case with smaller news organizations, their stuff often needs some major editing/rewriting to nationalize them.

And so therefore, if someone takes those stories and makes money off them, it is theft. AP is bang on.
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Aaron Altman
02/19/09

@Trixie from Toronto: Yep, you are correct. I was perhaps being too glib above. In my view, the AP is also on the right footing in the Shepard Fairey case - that his work, from which Shepard profits, is at the very least derivative of an AP product. Your thoughts?
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jbwan
02/19/09

In reply to AP Lawsuit Laughably Says Media Shouldn't Steal
This sounds very much like international News Service v. Associated Press, a 1918 US supreme court case read by all first year law students.

The issue is copying something and passing it off as your own, without any credit given. AP doesn't own the news, they own the effort put into getting the news.
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Aaron Altman
02/19/09

@jbwan: I believe the THR story says the AP cites that case as the basis for their suit.
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Aaron Altman
02/19/09

In reply to AP Lawsuit Laughably Says Media Shouldn't Steal
AP SUES "NEWS THIEVES" (Reuters) A judge will let a lawsuit by the Associated Press against a news provider go forward, according to Gawker.com. The AP says All Headline News is "free riding" by passing off the wire service's stories as original AHN content.

"What's the big deal?" groused a reporter for United Press International, which, incredibly, still exists. "I mean, come on, enough is enough!"

(Additional reporting by Bloomberg was used in this report)
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Jenniferhdaniel
02/19/09

@Aaron Altman:

From Staff Reports:

This is stupid.

:)

Yah, if you're an AP affiliate, rest assured they will call you every night ... two or three times if their shit is slow on the news desk to harass you for stories. Sometimes they will even fish for your lead stories bc they want to break them first. So ya know what I would do as night editor? Lie to them. What did you say AP lady? You heard what? Aw shucks, we don't anything bout dat!

Sports Desk taught me this. BC if AP breaks it on the wire, then rest assured your direct small-town daily competitor will make all attempts to scoop you on it.
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Aaron Altman
02/19/09

@Jenniferhdaniel: I used to like the wee hours, say between 3-5am, when the first editions of the local paper hit the streets, and all of a sudden, apart from the Day Sked and Daybook and Governor's Sked slugs, lo and behold, a slew of stories, all with attribution, from the Post or the Daily News or the Times etc., filling up the queue. That's when I knew daypart was underway. :-)
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Trixie from Toronto
02/19/09

@Jenniferhdaniel: You should be proud of yourself. Not. You're violating the terms of your news organization's contract with AP. By taking one of your top stories, they are not stealing them from you in an attempt to break them before you. As per your contractual obligations, they are getting your stories out onto a national stage which generally means more readers wanting to buy your newspaper the next day.
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SidAndFinancy
02/19/09

@Aaron Altman: When I was a flack, I joked with a Washington Post reporter I was talking to that the local TV news in DC just read washingtonpost.com for their evening news. He paused and replied that it's no joke -- they moved back the time they put things on the website for just this reason.
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Jenniferhdaniel
02/19/09

@Trixie from Toronto: Well, yeah, I hear you. The point was, we wanted to break it in our town first. Not give it to the wire so the our direct competitor could take it from the AP. Just trying to stop direct, local competition from getting a hold of it.
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Trixie from Toronto
02/19/09

@Jenniferhdaniel: There should be a way for AP to code it so that your direct competitors don't see it once it hits the wire. I always thought there was such coding, actually.
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Jenniferhdaniel
02/19/09

@Trixie from Toronto: Well, maybe there is and I was just too dopey to know that.

But you know what? I was young at that job, and my ME never told me or any of the other editors about dealing with the AP. So I sort of had to figure it out on my own. Also, I took advice from the SPORTS DESK, so that should tell you something about my naivete right there.

You live, you learn. I thought your insights about this were informative. Not everyone knows how this stuff works.
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naugahydeinplainsight
01/07/09

In reply to Conversations With God Author Lamest Plagiarist Ever
Real author of the anecdote is having none of this guy's excuses. She should remember -- as I first said many years ago -- To Err is Human, to Forgive Divine.
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BxgrlJeri
01/06/09

In reply to Conversations With God Author Lamest Plagiarist Ever
Back in the olden days God smote a lot of people a lot of the time. Trouble with now is not enough smoting (smiting?) going on for anyone ever. This deserves a good smote (smite?)
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BxgrlJeri
01/06/09

In reply to Conversations With God Author Lamest Plagiarist Ever
Steven Wright: "One time I....Wait. That wasn't me."
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StickyGerbil
01/06/09

In reply to Conversations With God Author Lamest Plagiarist Ever
Spelling at school totally sucked. Now the poor kids have to spell at church?
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Hydroceph
01/06/09

@StickyGerbil: what else are they going to do? listen to the sermon?
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Uncle_Billy_Slumming
01/06/09

In reply to Conversations With God Author Lamest Plagiarist Ever
There's a famous economist that just trotted out the clippings file cred-builder to convince us that he was on top of the housing bubble since 2002. His article is in my MS OneNote if you have any doubt.
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shostakobitch
01/06/09

In reply to Conversations With God Author Lamest Plagiarist Ever
in my clippings i have a story about how those idiot kids holding the signs couldn't keep their shit straight and turned "christmas love" into "charles vomits" which caused epiphanies galore.

o yeah i have all kinds of grandpa trappings like a gray beard and sweater too, but mine reek of stale bong smoke.
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Victor Ward
01/06/09

In reply to Conversations With God Author Lamest Plagiarist Ever
Ah yes, the clippings-file excuse

Coincidentally, also how the Bible came to be.
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Lysergic Asset
01/06/09

@Victor Ward: So very astute.
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contradicto
01/06/09

In reply to Conversations With God Author Lamest Plagiarist Ever
Can someone explain to me how "Christmas Love" turns into "Christ Was Love." when turned upside down so I won't get dizzy?

Is this even possible or is this some sort of loaves and fishes and manna and in the desert miracle?
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Victor Ward
01/06/09

@contradicto: haha, only the m in "Christmas" was turned upside down. Still awful, though.
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Iceland Spar
01/06/09

@contradicto: you have to flip the "m" and add a space.
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contradicto
01/06/09

@Iceland_Spar: So in other words, Christ was love you but have to manipulate him a little. Sounds like my romantic life.
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Iceland Spar
01/06/09

@contradicto: Heh, I started to laugh, then looked cautiously out the window towards the rapidly approaching lighting bolt, and stopped.
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