[Bumped to top -- originally posted 11:14 last night]
Some people make money by creating new things; others do it by exploiting quirks of the systems humans have established in order to work and play together without overmuch shooting.
Make up your own mind about this example -- he's the chap who buys up copyrighted news, then sues bloggers who quote overmuch. "Fair use" being a nebulous sort of thing and his client list not bein' entirely secret, dry him up: STOP quoting and linking to any outfit whose copyright he's bought up.
Those content providers start suffering a link-drought, could be they'll reexamine who they bed down with and what the offspring'll look like.
You'll find the beginning of a client list at the original linkery here, via a source I may be able to share later.
I have no sympathy for the kind of aggregator, often automated, that just grabs and grabs other people's content, with nary a link nor an attribution; IMO they really are stealing. But a line, even a paragraph* and a link? C'mon, that's fair use and free advertising.
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* Tip of the hair to "Mark Twain," who took issue with an entire page in A Connecticut Yankee..., pointing out the young court worker was "hardly more than a paragraph." If you were after a succinct definition of fair use, look no further.
I don't mind you letting people know I sent you an email about it. I found the link via Sebastian.
ReplyDeleteI just don't want my partial solution to be released just yet.
I also have a potentially complete solution that involves a fair amount more work and would have to be run past a lawyer. I'll try to get around to that within a day or two.
Hmm, I may be in trouble, based on a couple of paragraphs I used fairly while blogging Kilauea's latest activity...
ReplyDeleteStarving that weasel is a reasonable idea. There are a few more that I would also like to see get really skinny, but it seems the market is doing that for me.
ReplyDeleteA link to the source with a full attribution and brief quote in order to comment SHOULD be legal under present law.
But filing fees are small and shysters sue many hoping to scare up revenue.
Stranger
D.W.: So, what next?
ReplyDeleteJoe: I wanted to run with it the minute I heard, while not stepping on anyone's toes. While the bloggers I know all follow the customs, with short quotes plus link (and/o other attribution), word needs to get out that there's not only a problem but useful ways to deal with it, too.
The other result might be a Blogger News Network that beats the media collective to the stories and enables our hero to sue Journalists. Could be fun.
ReplyDeleteSay Uncle (grumble, grumble) spilled the beans so there is no point in you holding back anymore.
ReplyDeleteI have work to do now instead of waiting for some free time to make those improvements I was telling you about. Plus I found a bug that needs to be fixed.
Guess not, I quoted Hawai'i Magazine, not on the list.
ReplyDelete