By now you’ve heard about the Cooks Source controversy. Actually, it’s not much of a controversy. The editor of Cooks Source used a writer’s work without payment or attribution. She made things worse by telling the writer she should be grateful for the free edit and generally being ignorant and nasty about it. Then the weight of the world crashed down upon said editor as the internet descended upon her for her arrogant plagiarism. Now it’s been reported other stories were plagiarized from sources with deep pockets and lawyers (like Martha Stewart.) Things are getting worse for the editor, who seems to be socially tone deaf in her responses to the complaints. Through repetition, by every english-speaking writer on the planet, I’m sure it shall be clear to her eventually.
The thing about the web is, it’s dead easy to find out when someone takes your work. (I’ve caught a few people taking my work already. It’s not a compliment. Fortunately, when the offenders were contacted, they were apologetic (and more clueless than malicious so it worked out fine.)
I don’t have much to add to the outcry. (If you didn’t have wi-fi in your cave, there are plenty of links below the video to show you what you missed.) I found Nemspy’s video through the incomparable Neil Gaiman. Enjoy!
Related Articles
- Breathtaking editorial arrogance (scienceblogs.com)
- Cooking Magazine Gets Poached Egg on the Face (blogs.forbes.com)
- World’s Dumbest Editor Incurs The Wrath Of The Internet (woot.com)
- U.S. cooking magazine under fire for lifting article (theprovince.com)
- Print editor tells web writer her work is “public domain,” suggests victim should pay for editing of stolen piece (inquisitr.com)
- Attention: The Web Is Not Public Domain [Internet] (gizmodo.com)
- Today’s web justice driveby: Cooks Source Magazine (boingboing.net)
- Plagiarizing print editor claims the entire Internet is “public domain” (geek.com)
- Magazine Steals Articles, Claims the Internet Is Public Domain (slog.thestranger.com)
- Cook’s Source: When The Source is Plagiarized, The Source Should Feel Grateful – and Guilty (smartbitchestrashybooks.com)
- Why Would Cooks Source Magazine Steal Content? (chris.pirillo.com)
- Judith Griggs: The Google Is Our Friend, Not Hers (smartbitchestrashybooks.com)
- Cooks Source: US copyright complaint sparks Twitter and Facebook storm (guardian.co.uk)
- Web Shames Magazine for Plagiarizing Blogger’s Article (mashable.com)
- Blogger victim of infringement wins support (cbc.ca)
- The Day The Internet Threw A Righteous Hissyfit About Copyright And Pie (npr.org)
- Food magazine gets roasted online over copyright claim (cnn.com)
- Cooks Source editor kicks Net hornet’s nest (technolog.msnbc.msn.com)
Filed under: Rant, Unintentionally hilarious, Cooks source, editing, editors, plagiarism, Public domain
C h a z z W r i t e s . c o m 
Hahahaha! Thanks for posting that vid! And now I might have graduated from law school before netscape was invented (seriously) but I don’t think I’ve met a single person since mid 90s – even among lawyers – who would argue stuff is public domain by virtue of being on the net. Might as well say the entire contents of all public libraries are public domain. Don’t mean to sound snarky but…Duh.
It’s a crazy story. I love that people got proactive and researched previous Cooks Source issues to discover more plagiarism. I saw a comment on Whatever by someone who noted, “We’re seeing the death of a magazine in real time.” True.
It could have been averted with some kindness and civility on the editor’s part. The blogger at Whatever also pointed out that the mistakes made here (and thievery committed) might also stem from ignorance of digital/internet rules versus old world rules. It wasn’t that long ago that, when plagiarism happened, offenders had a much better chance of getting away with it. Not so now.
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Danny Romero, Robert Chute. Robert Chute said: The Net is NOT Public Domain: http://wp.me/pRG3O-tx […]
I heard about that. The editor is so ignorant she can’t even see that she did anything wrong. Of course, that doesn’t mean she isn’t responsible. Or reprehensible. If something belongs to someone else, you ASK before using it. You don’t borrow someone’s car without asking (even if you get them a tune up), and you don’t borrow someone’s work without asking.
Agreed. I just think it’s crazy that anyone thinks they can get away with it anymore. Copyright laws are pretty soft, so it’s not like there’s generally much you can do about the problem (unless you have a large legal department as discussed in the links to this story.) However, thieves can easily be identified due to the wonder of Google. (Excuse me, now it’s Bing, or as I call it, the New Coke.)
I google my work once every couple weeks. Among the usual links where I expect to turn up, sometimes there’s somebody who has lifted something without payment or attribution. That’s when I shoot an email to my editor and she gets on the horn and sends her goons over. It’s always worked out so far, but she has big goons. 🙂
[…] First it was the Cooks Source editor devaluing writers and promoting plagiarism for profit. […]