Taking a break from tech topics for a moment here…
I’m sure you’ve heard of the Cooks Source plagiarism fiasco by now. Recap:A writer finds out her online article was printed in a magazine without her knowledge or permission. She contacts the editor, asks nicely for an apology in the magazine and a $130 donation to a college’s school of journalism. In response, she’s told that:
1) Everything on the internet is public domain (Untrue)
2) The editor (Judith Griggs) should charge her (Monica) for the time it took to edit the piece.
SO, the original author posts the email exchange on her blog, and word spreads. Chaos ensues, and CSM/Judith finds herself at the center of a shitstorm of epic proportions.
How could this have been avoided? Some say that paying the $130 dollars would have avoided it. In reality, somewhere down the road someone else would have found their article plagiarized too and it could have snowballed from there. It seems that the only way this could have been completely avoided was to do the right thing and not plagiarize in the first place. I know, such a simple answer, but some take the low road…
Addition: Judith will be toast. It is reported that one of the companies she ripped off was Disney. Their legal team is well trained in this sort of thing...
Frank
