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Copyright Trolling

by sanssecret
10 replies
Has anyone else seen this?
Second Newspaper Chain Joins Copyright Trolling Operation | Threat Level | Wired.com

I know the whole copyright thing has been thrashed out in the forum before, but be interested in other warrior's thoughts.
#copyright #trolling
  • Profile picture of the author Janice Sperry
    It appears they want to send a message. I think the copyright laws have been ignored for a long time. Most media probably thought it was a waste of time/money to try and sue bloggers that were stealing their content. I hope they are successful and we see more of it. It may be pointless to try and stop it all but why not give it a shot. Bloggers that steal copyrighted material from newspapers, magazines, other bloggers, etc should start thinking twice about what they are doing.
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
      Banned
      [DELETED]
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      • Profile picture of the author Kelly Verge
        Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

        "Trolling" was a very strange word for them to use, in this context, wasn't it? I can't help wondering whether they actually meant to say "trawling" - which appears to describe exactly what they're doing - and some sub-editor didn't pick it up? Sometimes a piece has originally been dictated over the phone or on some sort of recording hardware which allows such mistakes to slip through.
        "Patent Trolls" were called that after the Trolls who demanded a toll to cross a bridge. They search for those who are infringing on patents then demand a licensing fee with threats of lawsuits to back up the demand.

        The author was drawing on the similarities between those pursuing patent infringers with the firm that's going after copyright infringers.
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  • Profile picture of the author ~kev~
    It seems to me that once people left high school or college - they forgot about copyright laws.

    In the USA, we have the right to own what we produce. If someone takes that property and uses it for their own needs, its the same thing as stealing.

    You would not take your neighbors car without permission, so do not take someones article without their permission.
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  • Profile picture of the author tpw
    This is a reflection of two things:

    1. Newspapers are fighting to retain a diminishing cash flow; and

    2. The propensity of Internet webmasters to think that all content is or should be free to reprint for profit...

    When it comes to diminishing revenues, this will not be the solution that saves the newspapers...

    But this scheme was not developed by the newspapers, but sold to the newspaper companies by an attorney who saw an easy-method to gain revenue and build his practice...

    The newspapers agreed to it, because it does not cost them anything directly to chase the people who have stolen their intellectual property...

    It is the right thing for the newspapers to do -- to protect their intellectual property from thieves... I am with them 100%... But I do not believe that this will prevent many of them from bankruptcy...

    Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

    "Trolling" was a very strange word for them to use, in this context, wasn't it? I can't help wondering whether they actually meant to say "trawling" - which appears to describe exactly what they're doing - and some sub-editor didn't pick it up?
    It depends on which side of the fence the author of the article sits...

    Those who believe it should be okay to take content from others would refer to it as, "trolling"...

    Those who believe that the practice is wrong should have called it, "trawling"...

    I don't think we can reliably guess the position held by the writer of the piece...
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    • Profile picture of the author Kelly Verge
      1a. An attorney looking for (and finding) a niche.

      Originally Posted by tpw View Post

      This is a reflection of two things:

      1b. Newspapers are fighting to retain a diminishing cash flow; and

      2. The propensity of Internet webmasters to think that all content is or should be free to reprint for profit...
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      • Profile picture of the author sanssecret
        Trolling is the right word.

        The whole purpose of this company buying the copyright to the content is so they can sue anyone who has republished it. And I'm not even sure they're just talking about republishing. How about just talking about it, and then posting a link?

        How the heck do they expect anyone to find their content if folks can't talk about it? Are you just supposed to put up a link with no surrounding text to explain what the link is about?

        What is it I'm missing? I'm not talking about republishing whole articles, but surely putting in a clipping from a news article can't be grounds for going all out to sue the pants off some lowly blogger. :confused:
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        San

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        • Profile picture of the author Dan C. Rinnert
          Originally Posted by sanssecret View Post

          What is it I'm missing? I'm not talking about republishing whole articles, but surely putting in a clipping from a news article can't be grounds for going all out to sue the pants off some lowly blogger. :confused:
          No, but it is grounds to stop reading newspapers and to stop getting information from there, and get it from sources you can quote and link back to without worrying about them suing you.

          If they might sue because you quote a couple lines from them, it's just not worth the risk. Even if the lawsuit ends up being frivolous and you win, the expenses will kill you. Best to not take the risk and use less "dangerous" sources.

          That's the risk they take when they take things too far. People that don't copy their content and do respect copyrights will begin to consider them as a hot potato. How much is "safe" to quote? And, if the risk of being wrong is a lawsuit, why take that chance?

          And, when people stop quoting from newspapers and stop linking back to them, their traffic will go down even more.

          I think a lot of these newspapers still don't understand the Internet, fail to identify the core issues which are costing them readers and resort to desperate measures which will likely harm them even further. They need to adapt or die.

          It looks like a number of them are refusing to adapt.
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  • Profile picture of the author Dan C. Rinnert
    Kind of reminds me of The SCO Group, which appeared to try to earn an income by suing other companies rather than producing anything of value.

    To me, this just seems part of the death throes of a dying industry. Newspapers are losing readers and revenues and, rather than address the core issues, they go the lawsuit route.

    Mind you, I don't have a problem with protecting your copyrights, but there is a difference between going after someone that is blatantly copying your content for profit without regard for your copyrights and going after someone that posted a newspaper clipping on their blog.

    For many of these people, a simple cease & desist letter would have sufficed. But, protecting copyrights isn't what these lawsuits are all about. They are about making money.
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  • Profile picture of the author LB
    The worst offenders are rarely in the US and never get sued.

    The most money to be made from suits is in the US, so US citizens are targeted.
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