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Let me introduce you to Cooks Source.

By: Moe Lane (Diary)  |  November 6th, 2010 at 10:30 AM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

It will be today’s Don’t Let This Happen To You!

Here’s the timeline:

  • Somebody wrote up a couple of medieval apple pie recipes for a website. Being a medievalist, this writeup included the original recipes, which means that they included the original spelling.
  • Cooks Source went onto the Internet, pulled the recipe, and printed it in their magazine. No, they didn’t get permission.
  • When the author found out about it, she emailed the magazine. Her – very reasonable – demand? Apologies on Facebook and in print, and $130 to the Columbia School of Journalism (well, it’s her call).
  • Instead, she got… this.

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! It happens a lot, clearly more than you are aware of, especially on college campuses, and the workplace. If you took offence and are unhappy, I am sorry, but you as a professional should know that the article we used written by you was in very bad need of editing, and is much better now than was originally. Now it will work well for your portfolio. For that reason, I have a bit of a difficult time with your requests for monetary gain, albeit for such a fine (and very wealthy!) institution. We put some time into rewrites, you should compensate me! I never charge young writers for advice or rewriting poorly written pieces, and have many who write for me… ALWAYS for free!”

  • Remember: the original article had literal transcriptions of the original medieval recipes. Those were the targets of the rewrites, apparently.
  • Also, that ‘web is public domain thing?’ Umm… no. Just… no.
  • Alas for Cooks Source, the author is a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism. Which means that she is fully plugged into the geek community. Which means that this story got picked up all over the Internet (because geeks and members of the SCA can be found EVERYWHERE*).
  • Hi-jinks ensue. And ensue. Oh, how do they ever ensue.

And that’s how Cooks Source made a corporate poor life choice – and I’d like to note that while the specific details of this story are perhaps not as weighty as some, the point here is rather serious. This sort of thing is precisely why RedState requires that people reprinting articles from elsewhere reproduce only their own pieces (or pieces that they are explicitly authorized by the original author to reproduce); that the pieces be reproduced in full; and that links to the original be provided. Fair use is sometimes tricky, but respecting copyright generally means that you don’t have to worry so much about raising the ire of the entire online world.

Although the arrogance there certainly didn’t help Cooks Source much. “…you should compensate me,” forsooth.

Moe Lane (crosspost)

*Everywhere.

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COMMENTS

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  • http://seekingliberty.wordpress.com fmaidment

    …forgot that her e-mails are sent via the internet.

    This makes her disclaimer at the bottom of her e-mail (if you read the original article linked by Moe) truly ironic:

    “This electronic message may contain information privileged for the addressee only.
    Please be advised that the Cooks Source email addressee is not intended to be transferred to any other addressor, and any copying, distribution or use of the contents of this message is prohibited.”

    If the internet is public domain (it’s not–both US and international law recognize the internet as copyrighted publication), then this message is meaningless because e-mail is sent over the internet.

    Oh, and it is meaningless unless you have pre-existing non-disclosure agreements. E-mail isn’t private unless both parties agree that it is, just like snail-mail and text messages. The lawyers who tell companies to put this in their e-mails are just building up billable hours.

  • IJB
  • http://pocketchangeproductions.net/ anotherindyfilmguy

    it’ll make the court hearing much shorter if that route is taken…

  • http://www.redstate.com/etcartman Kenny Solomon

    Beats the heck out of that other ‘mmmm mmmm mmmm’ chant, eh ?

    Whoa. Saffron in a pie crust. I gotta give that a go.

    Off to ye ole baking parlour and my ‘can it core a apple’ tool kit.

    I’ve everything in the house except the figs. We’ll see what happens.

    Where do I send the royalty check for private-only use of the recipe ? ;)

  • Jeff Weimer

    But they agree to it BEFOREHAND, sweetheart. Otherwise, you are on the hook for whatever the author asks.

    If you would have sent an email beforehand asking to use it, you may have gotten it for free, as you assume the author would have been so excited to see her name in print. You definitely wouldn’t have embarrassed yourself so thoroughly.

  • http://impudent.edublogs.org/ kyle8

    It needed to be edited. Damn what a clown.

  • scorpio0679

    This sort of thing is precisely why RedState requires that people reprinting articles from elsewhere reproduce only their own pieces (or pieces that they are explicitly authorized by the original author to reproduce); that the pieces be reproduced in full; and that links to the original be provided.

    I just want to ask for clarification on this. You are saying that when posting diary entries at RedState, I can’t reprint legitimate and relevant quotations from other places, without reprinting the entire article?

    That doesn’t make any sense, which is why I am asking. From Wikipedia.org:

    [blockquote]Fair use, a limitation and exception to the exclusive right granted by copyright law to the author of a creative work, is a doctrine in United States copyright law that allows limited use of copyrighted material without requiring permission from the rights holders. Examples of fair use include commentary, criticism, news reporting, research, teaching, library archiving and scholarship. It provides for the legal, non-licensed citation or incorporation of copyrighted material in another author’s work under a four-factor balancing test.[/blockquote]

    Federal law expressly defines the “four-factor balancing test” as follows:

    [blockquote]Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 17 U.S.C. ? 106 and 17 U.S.C. ? 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include:

    1. the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
    2. the nature of the copyrighted work;
    3. the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
    4. the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

    The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.[/blockquote]

    The logical extension of what you stated above (that you can only reprint in whole) actually tends to cut against the Fair Use doctrine and would favor a finding of infringement. Using, and of course, attributing, quotations in smaller portions is preferred.

    But, I would like some clarification since you’ve expressly stated a policy concerning diary entries here at RedState.com.

  • http://www.gmsplace.com/ civil_truth

    If anyone knows how to contact him, this right up his alley.

    Key links are Moe’s third link, the one to the Washington Post

    And this roundup from “How Publishing Really Works”

    Copyright Infringement And A Medieval Apple Pie

  • scorpio0679

    why the blockquotes after the first one didn’t work? I’m new to HTML and I can’t figure out what I did wrong.

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

    http://www.redstate.com/html-help/

  • Brian_Roastbeef

    Everybody is piling on. The original facebook page is now unrecognizable. There are at least a dozen fakes mocking the situation… True disproportionate response – it’s a beautiful thing.

    The only part I really dislike about it, is that some people are harassing their advertisers, which I understand are small businesses, and who of course didn’t have anything to do with this mess.

    Beyond that, it was a good laugh for a Saturday morning. A decent finish to an excellent week. Good find, Moe.

  • SteveLA

    Neil

    I use BBCode as an inline tool for Firefox to set HTML codes, do you know of or recommend another tool that does the job better? Nothing really wrong with BBCode as a tool, but I like to try different tools.

  • scorpio0679

    not [ and ] . . . any way to edit comments?

  • http://moelane.com/ Moe Lane

    But it’s verboten to reprint other people’s articles in full, it’s verboten to, say, quote just the first three paragraphs of your own articles and “click here for the rest,” and if you are reprinting your entire piece in full it’s verboten to not give a link to where it was originally.

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens
  • basalt_conservative

    …would Cooks Source lost if they had simply given credit to Gode Cookery for the recipe? None, and in fact would have gained some by giving attention to an intriguing cooking website.

    How much credibility did Cooks Source lose by stealing a recipe from Gode Cookery? Tons! They need to pay the very modest amount requested and apologize.

    Oh…one other thought…they really blew a great interview opportunity! Medieval recipes?! Cool!

  • acat

    The “coffin” described won’t work without gluten, but the 16th-century recipe, in a deep baking pan, might… Off to the kitchen!

    Mew

  • Finrod

    I happen to know Nihilistic-Kid (aka Nick Mamatas); I’ve known him online for over a decade and met him in person once at a friend’s wedding. He happens to be an active Communist and all-around leftist, and I never thought I’d see the day when his livejournal was linked to at RedState.

    Very freaky.

  • http://erickbrockway.wordpress.com/ Erick Brockway

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens
  • SoFiMil

    Highly recommended reading. All that’s needed is to click “like” to add a comment.

    http://www.www.facebook.com/pages/Cooks-Source-Magazine/196994196748

  • Christine (Trelaina)

    that the pieces be reproduced in full;

    Shouldn’t that be: that the pieces NOT be reproduced in full???

  • SoFiMil

    Moe, I’d never heard of the word “verboten” before, and had to look it up on Google. Word Power!

  • SoFiMil

    nt

  • http://moelane.com/ Moe Lane

    …but you can’t reproduce somebody else’s article in full here.

  • http://moelane.com/ Moe Lane

    Commies generally don’t respect intellectual property rights any more than they do any other type of property rights. :)

  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

    the Text Formatting Toolbar addin. The link is the latest version. You can set it to BBCode, HTML or WikiCode. Works like a charm for basic HTML stuff. If you need do stuff that is more advanced, I’ve found this HTML Tutorial to be a good resource.

  • SteveLA

    Works great!

  • Finrod

    The one thing he enjoys more than politics is embarrassing and humiliating people. He’s the kind of guy that goes to conventions and asks the guests obnoxious questions just to get a rise out of them (he’s told many such stories, actually). His arguing style has two main components: like many lefties, he will redefine words for his own purposes (I asked him once to define ‘racism’, and he described it as involving power. I then told him that under his definition powerless whites couldn’t be racist and he didn’t like that much); but more importantly he will insult his opponent to try to upset them, since when people let their emotions get to them, they don’t argue as well.

  • acat

    A modern gluten-free crust around the 14th century filling = delicious!

    Mew

  • bk

    unless I’m missing something. I didn’t think you allowed full articles to be pasted in; just pieces plus a link.

  • bk

    did have one funny one in my opinion…

    FOR SALE: One computer, only used to publish a small, free supermarket advertiser. “Ctrl”, “C” and “V” keys slightly worn.