February 15, 2005
A New "World" War
Thanks to fellow New York blogger Scott Sala and his blog Slant Point, I think I know which self-important junior member of the old media is next to be engulfed in a blog swarm.
Tulsa World, of Tulsa Oklahoma, has threatened Tulsa blogger Michael Bates of BatesLine with copyright infringement because BatesLine:
I do not claim to be a legal expert. Anyone who is has probably had a nice chuckle over some of my previous articles.
"...has reproduced (in whole or in part) articles and/or editorials from the Tulsa World newspaper or has inappropriately linked your website to Tulsa World content."The Tulsa World copyrights its entire newspaper and specifically each of the articles and/or editorials at issue. The reproduction of any articles and/or editorials (in whole or in part) on your website or linking your website to Tulsa World content is without the permission of the Tulsa World and constitutes an intentional infringement of the Tulsa World's copyright and other rights to the exclusive use and distribution of the copyrighted materials.
"Therefore, we hereby demand that you immediately remove any Tulsa World material from your website, to include unauthorized links to our website, and cease and desist from any further use or dissemination of our copyrighted content. If you desire to use (in whole or in part) any of the content of our newspaper, you must first obtain written permission before that use. If you fail to comply with his demand, the Tulsa World will take whatever legal action is necessary to assure compliance, Additionally, we will pursue all other legal remedies, including seeking damages that may have resulted as a result of this infringement."
But even I understand
fair use doctrine, which explicitly allows the reproduction of copyrighted content for "purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research" which clearly covers the use of material by most bloggers.In addition, there are legal precedents Bates found saying that links do not constitute violation of copyright laws. On even a common sense level, how can they? The simply direct a web site visitor to the original Web site, and do not copy anything. It sends the visitor to the original work (or at least the online version of such).
This heavy-handed threat by Tulsa World reeks of local political cronyism in an attempt to intimidate a blogger and stifle free speech. The last I checked, the Constitutional Right to Free Speech still applies, even in Tulsa.
