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Magazine steals blogger's article, suggests writer should pay them!

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mmntech said:
Wow, just wow. A good warning for bloggers out there. I've heard about articles being stolen but the thieves are rarely so blatant about it. Talk about a violation of journalistic ethics of the highest order.



http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/MediaNews/2010/11/05/15987581.html

Cliff's notes
-Cooking magazine lifts an article from a blog and reprints it without permission
-Blogger finds out, demands payment
-Magazine editor gives BS excuse, claims everything online is public domain
-Editor suggests blogger should pay her because they corrected spelling and grammar mistakes
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Sounds like an award winning case to take to court. Not to just file suit against the magazine, but also directly against the editor as a person. I'd now be asking for $10 Million in damages, and the f-ing public apology. Some B_tches are born b_tches.
 
The web is public domain? Someone tell Jammie Thomas! She can then use that to tell the RIAA to f*ck off!! 🙄

Only one reasonable thing to do: lawyer up, and SUE THE SHIT OUT OF THEM. They'll settle, and I bet she could get 6 figures, AFTER the lawyers are paid. 😎
 
At first, I thought marvdmartian had a good point, but then I realized this is how it'll play out:

Lawsuit is filed. The case gets more publicity. Lots of people discover that Cooks has been stealing their stories too. It turns into a class action lawsuit. The lawsuit takes 5 years to go through the courts. Each of the people involved gets $13.42. The lawyers involved get $25million.

edit: it appears that people have gone through back issues of the magazine and found many other instances where articles were stolen.
 
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I think the problem is that a blogger probably can't afford to get a big-time lawyer, and the little neighborhood magazine won't have the assets to pay a big settlement.
 
DrPizza said:
At first, I thought marvdmartian had a good point, but then I realized this is how it'll play out:

Lawsuit is filed. The case gets more publicity. Lots of people discover that Cooks has been stealing their stories too. It turns into a class action lawsuit. The lawsuit takes 5 years to go through the courts. Each of the people involved gets $13.42. The lawyers involved get $25million.

edit: it appears that people have gone through back issues of the magazine and found many other instances where articles were stolen.
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i was reading a blog on this. seems they have 6 confirmed thiefts (they talked to the authors of the articles she stole) and they have 140 unconfirmed articles.

seems this magazine was taking articles and putting them in as something they did.
 
waggy said:
i was reading a blog on this. seems they have 6 confirmed thiefts (they talked to the authors of the articles she stole) and they have 140 unconfirmed articles.

seems this magazine was taking articles and putting them in as something they did.
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Ouch.

I have a friend/ex-gf who wrote a few blog posts about her life as a young single mom. She was asked to submit a story for consideration to be printed in some magazine, so she wrote something up and sent it in... about 3-5000 words IIRC. She got a response later that they wouldn't be able to print it.

I was googling her a few months later (name, things about her, the article title) and recognized a bunch of the text from the article she wrote. Turns out the site published the article online and put someone else's name on it. Like, blatantly published the exact article, removed my friend's name and said "By: <some other person's name>".

Unfortunately it was only in the google cache of the page and the had subsequently taken the article down.

So yeah, this stuff happens a lot.
 
That's the worst $130 never spent.

"Hi, I wrote this piece, please donate a few bread crumbs to my favorite charity"

"lol no u owe us n00b"

"Okay, it's on, and you're totally stupid."

"lol soz"
 
if other instances are found, it wouldn't surprise me; someone that clueless obviously lacks basic knowledge about copyright and public domain, and obviously didn't check with a lawyer.

there's probably going to be a fuss if something isn't said regarding any confirmed instances of article plagiarizing and punishment towards the editor.
 
Should have taken the super cheap payoff option when it was offered. What a moron. How exactly does this person get an editor position exactly?
 
Are all the lawsuits really necessary? Can't we just shut the magazine down and bring national notice to the writers and editors who were involved in the blatant theft? I like that all Gaudio asked for was a donation and a retraction. After reading all of the theft that occurred in the magazine I think that public humiliation, reputation ruination and a loss of a career for those involved would be more than enough. There are too many frivolous lawsuits already. With all of the attention that should be given in this situation, Gaudio should be raised to a higher level and her career furthered because of it. If she gets the attention from lawsuits instead of just doing the right thing, it won&#8217;t further her career in a positive way and most likely just temporarily.
 
Are all the lawsuits really necessary? Can't we just shut the magazine down and bring national notice to the writers and editors who were involved in the blatant theft? I like that all Gaudio asked for was a donation and a retraction. After reading all of the theft that occurred in the magazine I think that public humiliation, reputation ruination and a loss of a career for those involved would be more than enough. There are too many frivolous lawsuits already. With all of the attention that should be given in this situation, Gaudio should be raised to a higher level and her career furthered because of it. If she gets the attention from lawsuits instead of just doing the right thing, it won’t further her career in a positive way and most likely just temporarily.
 
If you look at their website they appear to be a very small publication. Suing them will just make the magazine go under and they'll probably just start a new one under a different name. Unless they directly sue the editor they probably won't be hurt at all.

As for public humiliation being enough punishment, it won't work. The editor has already shown that they have no shame. You can't punish someone by humiliating them if they obviously don't care what other people think. Nobody pays attention to the names of editors for these tiny publications so this negative publicity won't affect their career in the long run. In my opinion they should sue the editor directly so she actually feels some sort of punishment for her actions.
 
zokudu said:
I think your cliffs should fix that she wasn't asking for direct payment she was asking for money to be given to the Columbia School of Journalism so she wasn't gaining anything but the money was going to a proper cause and not her pcoket.
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Pocket*

HAHA I CORRECTED YOU. NOW PAY ME MONAYS
 
MacFatty said:
Are all the lawsuits really necessary? Can't we just shut the magazine down and bring national notice to the writers and editors who were involved in the blatant theft? I like that all Gaudio asked for was a donation and a retraction. After reading all of the theft that occurred in the magazine I think that public humiliation, reputation ruination and a loss of a career for those involved would be more than enough. There are too many frivolous lawsuits already. With all of the attention that should be given in this situation, Gaudio should be raised to a higher level and her career furthered because of it. If she gets the attention from lawsuits instead of just doing the right thing, it won’t further her career in a positive way and most likely just temporarily.
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Right... a lawsuit is frivolous if you call it so 🙄. Utterly ridiculous. The lawsuit would be to get compensation for their work.
 
Tristicus said:
Pocket*

Your obvious spelling error amuses me, so much so, in fact, that I have audibly chortled, and I have corrected it in the quoted section above. In light of this, my efforts require monetary compensation and I expect said payment immediately.
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Fixed and improved.

You owe me $45.12.
 
The editor is taking a smart (for her) approach by completely ignoring the internet comments. She knows it will blow over quickly and her little publication can continue because it's just too costly to pursue legal action. I know some people are contacting the advertisers, and that's probably the approach which will make a difference.

The editor can afford to shrug it off as long as she never needs a job in journalism working for someone else.
 
kranky said:
The editor is taking a smart (for her) approach by completely ignoring the internet comments. She knows it will blow over quickly and her little publication can continue because it's just too costly to pursue legal action. I know some people are contacting the advertisers, and that's probably the approach which will make a difference.

The editor can afford to shrug it off as long as she never needs a job in journalism working for someone else.
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not 100% true. she ripped off food network and one other big publication. they will and do have the funds to go after her.

yes food network has been notified of it
 
A personal law suit against the editor is the only way to go. The entire magazine operation is probably just her copying and pasting stolen articles under fake writers names. I'd ask for some $ compensation and a court order prohibiting her from publishing for a few years.
 
Giving money to lawyers will only prolong this type of circular nonsense. Do it the charlie bronson way. 🙂
 
As a lawyer, i'd say she should sue - but only for the sake of principle. All of you saying she should see for millions or $50 million- doesn't quite work that way, folks. Unless this chick gets paid millions per article she blogs, this isn't a case about money. You don't just get to pull a number out of your ass and expect to get it in a lawsuit.
 
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