Dear Rick,After editing the post, I sent an email back to Ms. Levinson inquiring as to who brought it to the Herald's attention and if there are other "stories" they want removed from SFDB since, after all, she did use the plural tense. I got this response...
It has been brought to our attention that you have copied nearly complete stories from MiamiHerald.com onto your website, or copied them in their entirety. For instance, this column by Leonard Pitts Jr.:
http://southfloridadailyblog.blogspot.com/2011/11/truth-of-leonard-pitts.html
is identical to the copyrighted MiamiHerald.com version:
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/11/05/2487580/pious-racial-indignation-over.html
You are welcome to blog about and link to our articles, and we encourage it. We appreciate your link back to the article "in its entirety". But we must ask that you limit the amount of content you are pasting into your posts. Normally we allow use of the headline and one paragraph, though if you are commenting about an article you may use another paragraph when needed to make it clear to a reader what you are posting about.
Please remove the copyrighted MiamiHerald.com content from your website. If you have comments or concerns about our copyright policy, please feel free to contact me. Our complete copyright policy is available on our website at MiamiHerald.com. http://www.miamiherald.com/terms_of_service/
It explains you are welcome to link to content on our website, using no more than a headline and first paragraph of the story, and clearly identifying the source of the content. You are not allowed to reproduce content in excess of that, or in its entirety, on your website.
Thank you for your attention to this matter,
Rick,In a return email, I asked Ms. Levinson if the Herald also wanted me to delete the posts she referenced in her second email. I also requested the email address of the complainant. I have not heard back.
Thanks for your quick response. There were a few other posts, also Pitts' columns. I noticed many of your posts use only a few paragraphs from our stories, and that's fine. We got an email from a reader who pointed them out. Here are the other ones mentioned in that email. I did a quick scan of your blog, and didn't find any others:
http://southfloridadailyblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/serial-liars.html
http://southfloridadailyblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/remember.html
http://southfloridadailyblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/leonard-pitts-today.html
http://southfloridadailyblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/leonard-pitts-hits-one-out-of-park.html
Again, I appreciate your attention to this.
Best regards,
Suzanne Levinson
Dir. of Website Operations
Miami Herald Media Co.
305-376-4676
With everything that is going on at Miami's leading newspaper, I've got to hand it to the Herald for chasing after SFDB. No matter how many copy editors and journalists they're dismissing, they still have time for employees to police the web. Bravo.
Ms. Levinson and the Miami Herald apparently feel that if an SFDB reader gets enough of the story on my blog, then they won't visit the Herald. I suppose they are also concerned about the fact that Herald content will be available for free at SFDB even after they move it into their pay-for-view archives. I understand those concerns but would like to point out that every one of those posts links to the Herald and provides them a potential customer that represents more traffic and advertisement revenue. I would think that the Herald, a newspaper in the midst of a subscriber freefall, would be happy for any links to their website. I think if this was a habitual thing with a certain blog or if there was a pattern of abuse I might better understand their hardline approach. But I've posted close to 8,000 times in just less than 3 years so a handful of posts that apparently violate this policy hardly constitutes a pattern or a problem, in my opinion.
There's no doubt that the unidentified "reader" who filed the complaint certainly played some part in the Herald's decision to pursue SFDB as there are other Miami-based blogs that apparently regularly violate the Herald's policy and don't receive emails or attention from Ms. Levinson.*
In any case, I have complied. I have no choice, really. And to avoid any further conflict or nasty emails from the Miami Herald, I'm going to stop linking and referring to Herald content at SFDB, at least for the moment. That includes Jim Morin's cartoons, which I dearly love and will greatly miss and any other material that I've traditionally included in the Sifts. I don't want to have to deal with Ms. Levinson or any other Herald employee's subjective interpretations of whether I'm in compliance with their policies. I'm sure they won't miss my traffic and I don't have to deal with their emails so good-good for everyone involved.
However, I would like to suggest to Ms. Levinson and the rest of the Herald staff that the blogging community is their ally, in most cases, and it serves both parties and their respective readership to work together, link appropriately, be "interactive" and not get too consumed with content ownership.
Just ask your fellow employee, Chuck Rabin, Ms. Levinson. I'm sure he'll agree.
* In an interesting twist to this situation, a fellow South Florida blogger who frequently and harshly criticizes the Herald visited SFDB early this morning and specifically checked the posts that Levinson referenced in her second email. I'm not sure what caused him to go directly to those posts since I hadn't even posted about this incident yet, but I've been having a rather contentious back and forth with this blogger for months and it wouldn't surprise me a bit if he was the impetus behind the Herald's attention.
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29 comments:
Several years ago a group of South Florida bloggers were invited to a meeting at the Herald to discuss their "Community Blog" feature in which they would be prominently featuring South Florida bloggers. They were very interested in promoting our work, and the subtext was that it was to be a cooperative venture; they scratch our backs, etc. So, that was then, huh?
I can see them getting concerned about fair use and not attributing citations to their paper, but if they're going to get their tails all puffed up about links to their paper and no ill intent on the part of the blogs that point readers to their paper, then I would say that the idea of blog/Herald community sharing is pretty much over.
I haven't gotten such a note from them as you did, Rick, but I can save them the trouble. I won't bother them any more. There are plenty of other news sources in South Florida that encourage linking, and Leonard Pitts is syndicated in other papers.
You may have issues with the unidentified reader, but to say or imply that the Herald is in the wrong for asking you to remove an entire column is a bit much. Yes, you provided a link, yes, the paper is dying. But why visit the paper if you have the entire article on your site? Oh, I know, let's click through to the article to generate ad traffic for the herald. I'm sure that's what most of your readers did. That's a bit much.
And now, no more articles from the herald cuz they were mean to you? You can obviously do as you please, it's your blog, but that just seems petty.
The issue of copyright violation vs fair use needs to be defined by the courts because everybody has a different opinion on it.
I always try to limit the content I take from articles to four paragraphs. And when I do that, I always include a link and the name of the publication.
I wonder if the Herald would go all out in sending a legal team after you if you apply the four-paragraph rule as opposed to their one or two-paragraph rule.
As for the Leo Affairs thing, it is highly possible that Chuck Rabin found that on his own or maybe a reader sent it to him.
I had at least two readers send me that link as well before you put it up, so it was making its rounds.
Either way, I do think it's a little petty to go after bloggers, but the Herald is kind of stupid about certain things.
Especially the way they remove articles from the internet after they've been up for a few weeks, hoping to get people to pay to search in their archives.
Most people won't do that and will just find the content somewhere else.
On the other hand, look at the Miami New Times and how they never remove articles, which leads to increased clicks and ad revenue.
Rick, the Herald was surprisingly reasonable. Posting an entire column is way past fair use.
You could have reduced it to a couple of paragraphs and they'd have been fine with it, because frankly, they'd have to be.
Of course, the Herald doesn't get to dictate what is and isn't fair use. They're going to create a policy that meets their own arbitrary needs. And I don't think that the official definitions of fair use can be much more specific than they are. Yes, they are vague, but they are not completely vague.
Basically, fair use allows you to use enough of a portion to illustrate the point you are making about the article, or on the subject of the article. It's hard to put a specific word count on that, but the whole enchilada is way over it.
I know it seems petty, Allen, but I really don't want to run afoul of the Herald and their subjective targeting of SFDB in the future. This is going on all over the South Florida blogosphere and the Herald comes after me because a pissed off blogger decides to write them a note and direct them my way? No, thanks. I do this blog as a hobby. I don't need that headache.
C.L.J.....yeah, I know I went overboard with this column and I'm not really arguing their point. But it's something that I very, very rarely do. I'm sorry I thought the entire column was worth posting. Every couple thousand posts I guess I get crazy. I would think they would relax a little given the traffic that is being directed their way, not only with those posts but all the time.
I would be really curious what Random Pixels thinks. He's the Herald expert around here. Hey, Bill, tell us what you think about this dust up, amigo.
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I had my own problems with the Herald a while back as you well know.
My case was slightly different: 1) It involved fair use of their content in a satirical post. 2) I didn't back down like you did.
I'll be addressing this "dust up" as you call it at length in a future post which I guarantee you won't like one bit.
But, I can see why you would back down. After all, you're in an extremely vulnerable position.
You're a government employee blogging while you're supposed to be on the clock. I can see the headlines now: "Miami Herald sues government employee who stole their content"
Anything else you'd like to know....amigo?
Rick: My first impression was that the Miami Hurled over-reacted, unless there was some hidden agenda somewhere, something you suggested was a possibility -- in which case, they're just being petty.
But I think you over-reacted as well, and now it sounds like you agree. Not linking Morin cartoons or Hurled items doesn't accomplish anything constructive, does it?
Carry on as before. You're doing good work and everybody appreciates it.
BTW, of course you know I quote extensively from reviews on the Herald, as well as many other local media outlets. I try to keep it to a minimum, but I also use enough so you get the overall feel for the review. Sometimes I will hack it up a little bit so you get the tone, but it's obvious that the reviewer had more to say on the matter.
Not only have I not received complaints, I have been thanked by several writers and editors for sending them traffic.
Apparently I am responsible for 25% of the traffic for theatre articles at at least one site.
I find you very respectful of links with quotes...
But don't you find sometimes you like a column so much it is hard to evoke its essence with a few quotes and you know it will be gone from the Herald site in a few weeks...and you just want everyone to be able to read it and enjoy it like you did.
I would take your references as flattery if I were them....since you only do it on rare occasions.
Rick: Your assumption that Ms. Levinson, Director of Website Ops for the Herald, would know how much traffic you generate for the Herald may be giving the Herald too much credit. There...I said it.
@ DJ Frustration: Levinson probably doesn't know how much traffic SFDB "drives" to the Herald and also probably doesn't care.
Rick might drive a few visitors a day to MiamiHerald.com, a site that gets tens of thousands of visitors a day.
Of course, that wouldn't enter into the thinking of the always self-important Rick.
Bill, what's your obsession with me? Why do you send me threatening emails? Why do you advise the Herald about my posts? Why do you even come by here anymore?
Is it more links? I've linked to you 645 times but if it keeps you from harassing me and threatening me, I'll throw a few extra in.
Do you want me to stop giving you a jab every now and then in the Sifts? Most everyone can take those, but if you find them too demeaning, let me know.
I'm sure I can dig up the name of a good psychologist over on the Beach that can help you out with what it is with me that upsets you so much.
Look, if what I do for a living and when I blog is such a huge concern for you, then really, you've been on your own for way too long, my friend. Get someone to share some quality time with and maybe take one of those long walks on the beach you say you like so much. They're more fun with someone at your side. Trust me on that one.
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Squathole: Point taken.
I'm not sure that it accomplishes anything but I really don't want to deal with Levinson, et. al, anymore. I don't know. I guess I'll think about it.
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Have to say I was wondering the same thing as Rick in the previous comment. What's with all the anger? It seems, at best, misplaced.
Anyway, thanks for all you do Rick in the SoFla blogosphere.
this random pixy guy needs to get laid.
Cordial niceties aside, obviously they hate us for our freedom. Who among us will deny establishment journalism is in shambles.
Mustang Bobby, where is that Community Blog feature now? I just looked and it was gone. Yes, they met with us and they had a site where they were linking to OUR blogs filling THEIR site with partial content. I never thought that was fair.
Rick, I'm with squathole on this one. You know I love the work you do, but I think we all have to be fair with the 'fair use' act.
One pet peeve of mine though, Herald rarely or ever provides links to other blogs or sites. I mean, they list the URL, but not the link. They don't like giving google juice and you are right, we are doing them a service when we partially quote and then link to them. Why are not THEY being fair then?
I'll miss the Morin cartoons.
One more thing: glad you shared this and brought it up. It's an important question for bloggers.
Maria, I still have a link to the Community Blog Network on my favorites, and I just checked it. It seems to have been last updated in the middle of October 2011.
Naturally, as a 20+ year subscriber to the Hurled I never heard of this Community Blog feature until now so I just scooted over to see it for the first time and learned that my blog, posting 4-5 days/week since on-line since 2/08, isn't even listed.
Evidently bloggers need to sign themselves up. Self-service. (Another term for masturbation.)
So I looked at the process and it seems appropriately tedious and bureaucratic, up to and including the final step where after you've managed to go blind (another self-service reference) filling out the teeny-weeny form you "enter the words" in the code box.....and what I've learned the hard way is that if you use Firefox those code words are invisible. Anybody else have this problem?
So I'm still not listed but the whole thing strikes me as half-assed anyway. If they're even partly serious about local bloggers, their policy should be more editorial, selective, and pro-active, reflecting their interest and stewardship, rather like our blogrolls. Another giveaway is that as Bobby points out, it hasn't been updated for weeks!
It's a parallel universe at best, where we occasionally cross paths or bump into each other. All things considered I prefer to think of the Hurled as a mediocre adversary with its head up its ass. I would welcome its contempt, if only they cared enough to muster some up.
One of the more interesting aspects of this situation is the way Ms. Levinson doesn't seem to have any curiosity as to why the Herald would suddenly get an email from an anonymous person complaining about posts that go back more than a year on a two-bit local blog. There's no inquisitiveness or intuitive thinking on her part, just a drone-like obligation to address the matter.
It's this lack of curiosity and energy to spend the time to sort out what is going on [in this case, a dispute between two local bloggers] that has led, in part, to a decline in old school media stalwarts like the Herald.
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Mustang, thanks for the updated link. My link's URL was an old one. It went to http://www.blognetnews.com/miamiherald/ instead of the current URL.
I see it picked up my Schweddy Balls post up there from September. They post an excerpt and then it links to my blog with this: http://yourblogs.miamiherald.com/go.php?http://sexandthebeach.blogspot.com/2011/09/save-schweddy-balls.html
The fact that it's not a direct link may have to do with their tracking or their ads, not sure.
In any case, it's free snippets of content on their monetized site. From my statistics, I've never gotten a sizable amount of traffic from here.
Squathole, if I recall correctly, in the beginning a bunch of us were added to this automatically. I'm not surprised the process is archaic and cumbersome though.
Why should the Ms. Levinson care about a pissing match between a couple of "two-bit" local bloggers? Her job is not to suss out why Random Pixels is up your butt. Her job is to make sure people are not taking the Herald's content and using it as they please. I hear your complaints that linking and posting is a two-way street. The Herald and other media outlets should credit bloggers when their reporters take your content. And I agree the Herald is clueless when it comes to working with you guys. But Rick just wants justification from his peanut gallery to take whatever the Herald publishes and use it as he sees fit because the big bad daily newspaper treats bloggers like peasants. That's just as unfair and not right as a Herald reporter going to a blog, stealing a blogger's material, and not giving the blogger credit. Leonard Pitts writes for the Miami Herald not SFDB. Unless you have an agreement with the paper to use their copy verbatim, then the Herald is right in asking you to limit what you aggregate from them. To insinuate that one reason the Herald is on the decline because Levinson didn't want to "dig deep" into your love-hate relationship with Random Pixels comes off as narcissistic and completely out of touch with reality.
I'm just curious as to when this relationship between Rick and Bill took such a sour turn because back when Bill was doing all he could to discredit me and make my life hell, he would brag about how tight the both of you were.
I'm also curious if the Herald allows use of its content if its in the form of a screen shot as Bill did in his latest blog post instead of the usual cut-and-paste job.
http://randompixels.blogspot.com/2011/11/miami-herald-punkd.html
Carlos: I think it started months ago after I took a couple jabs at him in the Sifts. He has a problem with the way I blog and the fact that I don't link to him enough and that I don't use my full name. Among other things.
Anon @ 10:22: I disagree and here's why. The Herald has never
applied their fair use standards to the South Florida blogging community. Just hit some blogs on the SFDB blogroll and you'll see what I mean. For them to selectively apply these standards to one blog after receiving an anonymous letter that addresses posts that go back over a year is wrong. I don't expect Levinson to conduct an investigation into a complaint, but I would think that she might weigh the totality of the circumstances and maybe even go the extra mile and correspond back with the complainant in an effort to better determine what is going on. You know, something other than immediately sitting down at the computer and typing something like, "Hey, you know that post you wrote in March of 2010....we have a problem with it."
"But Rick just wants justification from his peanut gallery to take whatever the Herald publishes and use it as he sees fit because the big bad daily newspaper treats bloggers like peasants. That's just as unfair and not right as a Herald reporter going to a blog, stealing a blogger's material, and not giving the blogger credit."
Actually, no, anon.
I credit my sources and most times offer them praise and support for their opinions. Apples and oranges. Totally.
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Very crude and useless remark, pinhead.
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hey random pixels, have u completed your patrol of south florida blogs today? anyone else that youre going to run to the herald and repot. what a baby.
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