A first person example of the 'sharecropping' I discussed a few weeks ago:
The Paradise Garden dot com has copied one of my better posts "To Bee or Not To Bee", and posted it as "To Bee or Not To Bee by Herb Garden" on his/her website, with a link back to my original post.
You can find it by going to the website, then clicking on the herb garden category in the sidebar, and then scrolling down to find the post.
See, it says "by Herb Garden"!
Should I bee flattered they liked my post enough to steal it for their own content, or bee pissed that they didn't offer to pay me for the use of my content on their commercial, gated, website?
[She begins to hummmmm:
"16 tons and whatdya get? Another day older and deeper in debt. St. Peter don't ya call me 'cause I can't go... I owe my soul to the company store...."]
You may wonder that I complain, but then I use the work of artists, poets and authors to decorate my blog? The difference is, you can read freely here without signing in first, and I don't post other people's work as "by me", with copyrights posted claiming the content as my own. I try to give proper attribution when possible.
I didn't sign up to access that website to see if there is any original content there at all, but if you do, let me know. Who knows if they are gardeners at all, or just using the work of garden writers that they find on the internet to pad out their commercial site?
I also think 'intent' plays a role here. My blog is for my own learning, sharing, and enjoyment. It is definitely not a business. If a poet or writer asked me to remove content, I'd do it in a flash. I also think "fair use" is a good way to go in this activity of blogging.
So anyway, I did a little looking at the offending website, and here is The Paradise Garden's copyright policy, regarding, I assume, their own work:
Copyright
All Web site design, text, graphics, the selection and arrangement thereof, and all software Copyright © 1997-2008, KYSOG Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Permission is granted to electronically copy and to print portions of this Web site for the sole purpose of placing an order with Paradise Garden or using this Web site as a shopping resource. Any other use of materials on this Web site—including reproduction for purposes other than those noted above, modification, distribution, or republication—without the prior written permission of KYSOG Inc. is prohibited.
Contact Information
Paradise Garden
PO Box 267
Corryton, TN 37721-0267
1-800-490-7789
Our contact form is the best way to reach us.
Our customer service number is 1-800-490-7789. If you'd like us to call you, please email us your phone number and we'll call you at your convenience.
5 comments:
I do understand your pain and the worst part is they do not even contact you
It is interesting to me because when I created The Gardening Power Guides and the other guides I was very conscious that it pissed me off when people use work you have put a lot of work into which is why all the latest posts etc is in javascript so I do not take traffic only try to provide a service
I spent 2 years researching a site on history with stuff not found anywhere on the net ( because it did not exist ) and now that same data is all over the place .
I have issued a couple of DCMA and had sites taken down and contacted Search Engines but in general unless it is flagrant it is difficult to police.
I do have many who email me if they can use my research and nearly always if its for education purposes which is what the site was built for I allow it to be used providing they site the resource
steve
Oh, no they di-int! As a freelance writer, that would make my head explode, only because they didn't ask permission.
Look at it this way: as much as you want to build a sort of universal gardening community (I assume from the posts I've read so far--have I said that your blog is what my gardening blog wants to be when it grows up?), you'd still want somebody to ask you if they could use a patch of your yard to plant their basil in, right?
Anyway, yes...be upset and I think a note to them asking them to pay up or take down would be right in line.
Can't wait to explore your site some more!
Oh, I'm more flattered than mad. I've been a volunteer so long I don't know what 'pay' is. I'm known as the official family slacker. Being unemployed is the pits but you hold your chin up anyway. Any kind of work is good, right?
But I must tell you NotHannah, I started reading your various blogs after your comment led me to your garden blog and today I actually subscribed with that RSS feed gadget that I never use! I'll add a link in my sidebar soon so people who don't read comments can check your blogs out as well.
Wow, thanks, Betsy!
Now, I must tell YOU that I've been toodling all over YOUR various sites and I'm linking to you!
Let's have a linky tea party. :)
A linky tea party, hehe. This IS the official 'my attempt at sweetness and light' blog, after all. I've seen a lot better done and stand in wonder at those people.
Childhood's 'executive play', I heard that term today this morning on NPR. Maybe that's what blogging is for me. I never did grow up.
Then I meet serious grown up people who actually sell their work, and I stand in wonder at them too.
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