How Not To Do Things - Cooks Source

There are certain people and organizations you don't want to mess with: The Mafia, North Korea, Dick Cheney... and NPR? Yes, don't mess with NPR. If you need an example as to why, look no further than the recent story concerning Cooks Source.

OK, so maybe NPR didn't break the story, but I still like to give them credit for helping to spread the word. That's where I heard about it. What's the story? Here's a quick summary: Cooks Source, an ad-supported magazine, has apparently been lifting content from the internet and publishing it. They have given the authors credit, but not the source publications like Martha Stewart, The Food Network and NPR. Cooks Source claims that since they were able to find the articles on the internet, they are considered "public domain" and are therefore not protected by copyright laws.

You might be wondering what this has to do with photography? Copyright is a huge issue with photographers who make their living with the photos they take. There are hundreds, if not thousands of stories about photographers who have found their images being used without permission. They might be used to illustrate a blog post or to advertise a product. Regardless, they are being used without permission and are typically violating the photographer's copyrights.

Copyright is a hot topic in the photography community. The combination of digital photography and the internet makes it too easy to copy and paste an image for whatever purpose you please. Most people are unaware that just because you have the ability to copy something doesn't mean that you have the right to copy it. This is exactly what happened with Cooks Source.

Cooks Source is certainly being made an example of and this is only the beginning. Right now, retribution is coming in the form of posts on their Facebook Page. In the time it's taken me to write this, another 200 people have already "Liked" the page. You can be sure that every single one of these people has done so to taunt or chastise Cooks Source.  What's in store?  Probably the end of the magazine and possible monetary compensation to anyone who had work stolen.

Unfortunately, copyright infringement happens every day to artists, writers, photographers, musicians and others who depend on their creativity to make a living. Hopefully, this Cooks Source debacle will generate some awareness about copyrights and make people think twice before stealing someone else's hard work and creativity for their own personal gain.

Oh yeah, since this is titled "How Not To Do Things", I guess I should make a quick list of how not to do things. Thanks to Cooks Source for the inspiration:

• How not to get 3500 new Facebook fans in less than 24 hours: steal other people's work.
• How not to get mentioned by NPR, Time, Boing Boing, CNET, CNN, The Guardian, etc...: steal other people's work.
• How not to apologize: steal other people's work and then tell them they should thank you for editing it to make it better.
• How not to stop the bleeding: create a new Facebook page for "the readers" and tell everyone that "untruthful posts will be considered libelous".
• How not to publish a magazine: steal other people's work.