Friday, December 2, 2011

Ctrl C, Ctrl V

I was surprised this morning to find a couple of messages saying, "I liked what you wrote in The Mirror, well done."

I was surprised because I hadn't written anything for the Mirror. It seems you don't have to these days. I did a bit of googling... and found this. If the words are familiar to you, that'll be because you read my last blog.

As did someone at The Mirror. Who then cut and pasted it into the paper. Odd.

Apparently someone on the Radio 2 breakfast show was talking about how I'd written a piece for The Mirror on the whole Clarkson thing too. I don't imagine many of those who read it thought that it wasn't written specifically for the paper.

Which is a bit cheeky of them to say the least. Oh well. As if we needed a lesson in not believing what we read in the papers at the minute.

Or maybe this is how things work these days and this blog is automatically being fed into the Mirror. I hope so. I can't wait to see this one!

36 comments:

Stephen said...

Looking forward to seeing what they say about this. Surely you've at least contacted them?

Steuard said...

That looks like an absolutely egregious copyright violation (and no newspaper could claim not to understand the concept of copyright). They're also using your name and identity for their own profit without your consent. I hope you do something significant to convince them that this sort of thing isn't okay.

Karin said...

You can submit your fresh evidence to the Leveson enquiry at: generalenquiries@levesoninquiry.org.uk

@pholloway said...

Of the forms of redress you might like to explore (if any), it's worth remembering that Leveson Inquiry is taking written submissions on the current module, namely issues related to the press and the public, until the end of January.

James said...

Clarkson: Not illegal, not particularly offensive, and so what if he is?

Deal with it. It's real.

Dave Gorman said...

@Stephen, @Steuard @Karin @pholloway I'm not planning to do anything. I really can't raise the energy to care all that much.

@James: you've posted your comment in an odd place. If you've an opinion about Clarkson that you're desperate to share, maybe finding a blog about him would be the place for it.

Peter Ball said...

It does seem rather foolish of a newspaper to steal the work of a public figure in the middle of the Leveson Inquiry. Then again, people have been remarking for years that print media is on the verge of death. Maybe the employees of same have swung suddenly to that opinion for no reason, and thus don't think it matters.

As for Clarkson himself, I had quite forgotten he existed until he did this spot of self-publicising, as Top Gear's off the air. Canny fella.

Bob said...

could Clarkson be found poetry this week?

Rob said...

Wow. I'd be a lot more annoyed about this than you seem to be. Not only are they suggesting that you would write for them, they're getting away with not paying you. Also, I think it's fair to say that writing for a blog audience of fans is a bit different to writing for the general Mirror readership. Maybe you would have written it differently for the Mirror. Maybe you wouldn't, but it would have been nice if they'd checked that with you.

Vicus Scurra said...

If I say here that the Daily Mirror are a bunch of cunts will they print that?

Anonymous said...

Dave please do at least raise your concerns to them. You can't let them just get away with things like this. Don't set the precedent that it is ok to steal your content and make money from it. Where would they stop...

Anonymous said...

Just send a bill you can probably get the IP address and DOB them into the paper as a liability as well if inclined

Steve in Croydon said...

I agree, you should raise it with them - it's your copyrighted material and you should be paid for it - and it would have been nice for them to ask you, too!

winterwold said...

Don't forget to contact them about you payment. Unauthorized use gets you at least 2x the usual fee for a contracted journalist.

Annalisa Crawford said...

I agree with the other posts, you should at least register an objection, or - less than that - an acknowledgement to them that you know what they've done.

Liz S said...

Are they paying you?!

Dave Gorman said...

Lots of people seem keen on me taking action. I can't be bothered. It wouldn't achieve anything.

According to Chortle I'm hitting out at the Mirror over it. This must be the tamest hitting-out ever.

Anonymous said...

They also seem to've renamed you: “YES SAYS COMEDIAN DAVE GORMAN JEREMY,” runs the heading on the web edition, rather oddly.

Please would you consider invoicing ‘The Mirror’, not for yourself but for the sake of career journalists trying to earn a living. If the tabloids realize they can get away with copying text from public figures who won't complain, then that's fewer pages they need to fill with work from paid writers.

(For the avoidance of any doubt, I'm not a journalist; my personal interest here is limited to being somebody who appreciates the existence of journalism.)

Thanks.

Dave Gorman said...

It's not like this is the first instance of it happening. Just the first time it's happened to me. They know where the law stands and I don't doubt for a minute that they're just inside it. It's really not all that important... but an interesting lesson in how the papers operate.

@denmarkjon said...

It's not the first time your work has been blatantly ripped off though, is it? There was that bloke that won a competition in (I think) The Guardian with one of your photos.

Dave Gorman said...

@denmarkjon: true, but a punter sending in one of my photos and ticking a box to say it's his own work is something that nobody on the paper can realistically prevent. (That said, I thought their response after the event was pretty shit)

But it's a different situation to this. This is worse in many ways - the paper knows exactly what it's doing. But that's also the reason why there's no point trying to do anything. This isn't something that slipped through the net without the editor knowing... they do know what they can get away with!

Mark said...

If not for you, then for the sake of others who have their photos, words, and stolen, invoice them - at a rate of no less than £3 per word. I'll send them an invoice if you like on your behalf. A major company is using your work and your name and your content to make money from you and relies on the affected - you - not being bothered when it happens. If you're bothered enough to write a blogpost, you're bothered enough to get yourself or someone else to call them or invoice them.

Downfader said...

Just saw this mentioned on Twitter. I say put in an invoice!!

Are The Mirror really THAT stupid to wonder why some are calling for an end to the free press when they do things like this?

Donna Scott said...

I've had this happen to friends of mine who are writers... they submit a pitch, get the okay to send in the article with the prospect of writing for a fee, are told that it can't be used... and then, hey-ho, it magically appears in the paper anyway.

One friend, a travel writer, was told the publication of his feature for nothing was him being paid in prestige. Er.... no. Not as a seasoned writer used to actual monetary payment. Persistent invoicing has helped recoup some of the money owed.

I do think it's especially important for those who provide a lot of free web-content on their websites to defend their work. It should be paid content for paid markets. Some writers do actually live in freezing cold garrets...

Ol Peculier said...

I used to work for a photo agency and had newspapers using our stuff all the time without paying for it, until they got a bill...

It was an arse dealing with contribution accounts all the time but was worth it (probably not been in business anyway)

Point is, it's going on all the time, the media companies asking for photos etc. for free and often published without attribution. I'd at least pint an email off to say you know about it, and doing it again is going to be greeted with a large invoice.

My 2 pence worth...

@denmarkjon said...

The all important © symbol seems conspicuously absent from the Daily Mirror website. I wonder, therefore, whether this makes it public domain and gives you carte blanche to publish it as your own work and re-label it "The Daily Dave".

I'm sure they'd get very litigious very quickly.

Although they undoubtedly believe that they are operating legitimately, I suspect - given that blogs are a relatively recent phenomenon - that it's an area of the law that is yet to be really tested.

I don't think a court in the land would fail to at least recognise that what they're doing is inherently wrong.

John from Newcastle said...

Dave, at the top of your blog you give us the advice "DON'T DROP LITTER. DO SAY PLEASE AND THANK YOU. SIMPLE, REALLY"

This seems to be important to you. The Mirror did not say please, and almost certainly will not be saying thank you, and their production is nothing more than litter.

So, please send them an invoice. Thank you.

(PS, loved the show, thanks)

Ellie said...

It's your blog, it's your right not to give a shit.

Pity though. So many people in the world don't care; it would have been nice to think that maybe you do.

rogerjowett said...

Steuard said...
That looks like an absolutely egregious copyright violation (and no newspaper could claim not to understand the concept of copyright).
acorn soft planetoid newspaper might give it a good go though...

http://www.bbcmicrogames.com/acorns
oft.html
williams defender anyone...

rogerjowett said...

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just noticed
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your email has been deleted

rogerjowett said...

ooops
just noticed
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your email has been deleted
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Dave Gorman said...

@Ellie (& others) don't mistake "not-sending-an-invoice" for "not-giving-a-shit". Mistake it for "having-asked-some-questions-and-discovered-that-there-is-nothing-to-be-gained-by-pursuing-it-except-more-hassle". I'm being pragmatic, that's all.

Anonymous said...

'Pragmatic' is an odd way to spell spine-less.

Dave Gorman said...

"Anonymous said...

'Pragmatic' is an odd way to spell spine-less."

And so is "anonymous".

Brendankelly33 said...

Obviously it's still bothering you Dave. Fight back I say.
You've fought bigger fights before for smaller issues.

Dave Gorman said...

I don't know why people struggle to take in what I've already said on the topic. It does bother me that they just took my blog and represented it as if it was an opinion piece written for the Mirror... but I took advice about what I could do about it and the advice was: nothing.

There's really no point urging me to fight something when I've already looked into it and been told that I can't. Ta dah!