Copyright infringement. Those are two of the ugliest words in journalism. I’ve written about copyrights on this site before and I’ve had to address the issue twice, one of which was today.
I was visiting the Dallas Cowboys page at ESPN.com and was poking through related news items when I noticed a title to an article that looked familiar.
The title to that article, written by AP writer Jaime Aron, was No Jessica, No TO, But Still Int’s For Romo. That article was posted on the Kansas City Star’s website yesterday, September 24.
Hmm.
On the surface you may ask what’s the big deal. Well, the big deal is that I wrote an article titled No Jessica, No T.O., Life Still Sucks For Romo on September 22 and posted it here at MoonDog Sports, two days prior to the AP article appearing at the KCS.
I wrote an e-mail to Derek Donovan, the Kansas City Star’s Reader Representative, and alerted him to this development. I intimated to Mr. Donovan that it was rather odd to see a title to an article virtually identical to mine appearing on the KCS website.
To his great credit, Mr. Donovan responded immediately, addressing the matter in such a way that has actually renewed my faith in the professional media.
Mr. Donovan quickly rewrote the title of the AP article appearing on the KCS website so that it would no longer be almost identical to mine.
He also alerted the AP and even posted a blurb publicly addressing the issue on the KCS website.
For his expeditious response and the genuine effort he took to resolve the matter, Derek Donovan and the Kansas City Star are officially in the good graces of yours truly and MoonDog Sports.
As for the Associated Press, I’m still waiting on their reply. But I have a feeling their response will come soon enough, because this Dan Peel guy (my attorney) isn’t to be trifled with.
Nor am I.
Remember, as bloggers you have just as much protection under copyright laws as do the professionals. When you discover there may be an issue with your content, bring it to the attention of all the parties involved immediately.
You may find that the person on the other end of your communication will act like Mr. Donovan did today, and that bodes well for all of us sharing our words with the masses.
