Copying vs. Copyrighted

 Wouldn’t it be great if we could all just make up our own rules? No, I will not eat ice cream with a spoon, I’m eating it with fork! Take that Miss Manners!  Sounds silly right? Well what about this Cook’s Source nightmare? I mean I understand that the world of blogging is kind of blurry when it comes to legal precedence and black and white rules, but anyone with half a brain knows that you don’t just “lift” words and assume that you can have your way with them. Hello! Ever heard of a copyright or plagiarism?

Apparently the editor at Cook’s Source hasn’t, and what’s even more entertaining is that she deems herself the Queen of Online Law.  Long story short, this magazine lifted a story from another blogger, Monica Gaudio (known as illadore), changed up a few words, and printed the revised story in their magazine without the consent or even the knowledge of the writer.

When confronted about their obviously lack of know-how, they said “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!” (illadore’s blog) Wow. That’s high class right there. Looks to me like the editor here is going with the sheep logic, as in, well everything is doing it so we’re joining the pack of other ignoramus out there.

So to Cook’s Source credit, is the internet “public domain”? That one is up for debate, but blogs and the Internet are not the same thing, and since blogs can be viewed as literary works, then yes they are copyrighted and not public domain. So hmm, sorry Cook’s Source, you blew that one.

All I know is that if I tried to pull that in my journalism classes, I’d probably have to start looking for a new major, because I’d definitely be kicked out for violating copyright laws and being an idiot.

However, in the end it looks like Cook’s Source figured out that if you upset enough people, eventually you have to do the right thing. On the home page of their website cooksource.com, the magazine apparently tries to make itself look like the victim, but ultimately they did apologize to Monica.

Ultimately though, the responsibility of attributing sources and giving credit where credit is due is the writer’s. Always check your work. Always correctly attribute a source. Even if you feel the need to making something “better”, if the idea isn’t yours, then give credit.