Steal this column

 
Debate rages over just what you are allowed to take from the net

FLAME WAR! A wave of outrage is sweeping the internet. Again. I was so excited I nearly fell asleep. I usually ignore these things (unless I’ve caused them), but since the latest one involved Journalistic Principles, I thought I’d better check it out.
*
A naughty journalist stole the work of a colleague—and then asked to be paid for it.

Judith Griggs, editor of US magazine Cooks Source (sic) secretly copied a cookery article by freelance reporter Monica Gaudio.

When Monica complained, Ms Grigg replied with an email so obnoxious that it will go down in history. She wrote:

"But honestly Monica, the web is considered 'public domain' and you should be happy we just didn't ‘lift’ your whole article and put someone else's name on it... We put some time into rewrites, you should compensate me!"

Whoah! To ask for money after having been caught stealing is cheeky. Hitler would have baulked at that. Judas would have had refused on ethical grounds. Even I wouldn’t do it, unless necessary.
*
More than a thousand people immediately signed up on the magazine’s Facebook page to complain.

Ms Griggs, unashamed, gloated by putting a positive spin on it: “We used to have 110 friends, we now have 1,870!”

This unleashed another torrent of anger.

• Commenter Maria Ogneva patiently explained that they had all signed up as friends to criticize her. “There's no ‘dislike and publicly trash’ button on Facebook yet,” she snarled.
• Liam Markham wrote: “By my calculations, 94% of your friends hate you.”
• Scott Allen Morris made a thoughtful comment: “The only way to post abuse is to be a friend: there's a deep metaphor in that somewhere.”

The internet community snapped into action and started analyzing several features in Ms Griggs’ magazine.

All had been stolen.

The magazine closed down.
*
Articles about the row are appearing all over the world. I read quite a few. They all said: Why do some people think anything on the web is stealable, or “public domain”? What happened to journalistic ethics? This editor is naughty etc etc.

But you know what? Not one dealt with the key question. Why are internet users so angry—since web-surfers are FAMOUS for stealing stuff?

Content-thieves from Napster to YouTube are worshipped and any attempts to criticize them or stop them are fiercely opposed. Why are they suddenly so self-righteous?

This thought caused me to sit down and compose Mr Jam’s Law of Internet Ownership:

If you are perceived as a corporation stealing content from individuals, the internet community will get you shut down fast. If you are perceived as an individual stealing content from corporations, the internet community will defend your actions to its last breaths.

So the best thing Ms Griggs can do is quit her now-defunct magazine so she can be perceived as an individual.

Among the river of abusive statements (now 6,000) on the magazine’s Facebook page, I found this wise message to her from one David Edelstein: “Congratulations, you're a meme! Usually a talentless nobody has to do porn or kill a kitten to become this infamous this quickly.”

Good point, David.

Now give me a minute to think of something I can steal to become instantly mega-famous. Have you heard about my new book idea? It’s called “Eat, Pray, Steal.”

It’s about a kid called Harry Potter who penetrates people’s dreams and ends up on Brokeback Mountain sharing a tent with Buzz Lightyear and Batman. Any offers?
*
*
*

Technorati Tags: Cooks source,plagiarism,internet meme,judith griggs,monica gaudio

(Illustration modified from Juhansonin via flickr, licence here)

Comments

[Mandyrox]

Let me get this straight. According to your law, if I think of you as a blogger, I shouldn't really steal your columns and print them anywhere, since that would make me a corporation stealing from an individual. But if I think of you as a Readers Digest columnist, and i was stealing your columns to put on my blog, then that's OK, since I would be an individual stealing from a big corporation. Is that right?

so all i have to do is stop reading this blog and start reading you in Readers Digest so I can steal your material.

[Paul]

The problem is that for all of our connectivity we haven't yet made the final leap and become assimilated. Once we link up to become the Uni-mind or Omni-mind or Hive-mind...whatever, then there will be no concept of ownership of ideas. All things will occur to all minds equally as one...

...including bad ideas.

Resistance is futile!

;-p

[Lift Lurker]

Uncle Jam what are you talking about?!?!??!

Judith Griggs is my hero. I enjoy her magazine and always download it from torrent.

[Amelia Airhearth]

It's really soooo so so so so sad when people don't respect copyright and ownership of intellectual work.

It's like soon there'll be no more incentive to invent new things! No one will write new books. I have seen ebooks of Nury's work.

Do you remember that famous quote from the US patent office director which went: "Everything that can be invented has already been invented"
Soon enough, we'll see that come to happen, and not because people have run out of ideas, but because the ideas are not worth pursuing anymore.

No one invents better buggy whips anymore because it doesn't pay off.

This is like the very foundation of capitalism. You spend the time researching and producing valuable work. You should be entitled to benefit from your work.

[Mosley]

I wouldn't mind a better buggy whip. Mine are always breaking. And don't tell me to whip people more gently. That spoils the fun for all of us.

[TS]

I frequently click the "Like" button on facebook, just so that I can have the satisfaction of clicking "Unlike" immediately after.

Does it send the intended message?
No, but it makes me happy...

[Nury]

Little things please little minds....
I do that too!
I knew we were twin souls.

[Ram]

@Nury,

"Now give me a minute to think of something I can steal to become instantly mega-famous. Have you heard about my new book idea? It’s called “Eat, Pray, Steal.”

It’s about a kid called Harry Potter who penetrates people’s dreams and ends up on Brokeback Mountain sharing a tent with Buzz Lightyear and Batman. Any offers?"

I think there is a stiff competition for that, that too from Asia. Here you can see, how many books have come out using Harry Potter and other famous stories, in a very new (???) format...

http://www.11points.com/Books/11_Amazing_Fake_'Harry_Potter'_Books_Written_In_China

[Meagen]

You asked 'Why are internet users so angry?'
It's fair to say that many of us were gobsmacked by her self-pitying excuses and her qualified apologies. Writers' rights are so fragile in this digital age. You better believe we're outraged.

[rafanjr]

...people who do not respect copyrights...are able to profit and be prolific from what they have made to be their own. Think of all the famous people, can you think of any original idea they have.......right, there is none.

[Bottes hiver]

I surprised there are so much interesting posts here, thanks for sharing with us ,it brings us happy time, thank your for taking time to written.

[grandpa]

Talking about staling a column, nothing beats wikileaks...

This is tough competition to humor specialists

[MG]

Can someone tell me ....
1. When people started enjoying the advantage of copyright??
2. In recorded history when people started stealing others ideas?

Hope that ... Answers of these questions will give us some clue about this column