Daily Mail fires back at News Corp as copy theft row heats up
The Daily Mail has returned fire at News Corp over accusations the UK newspaper’s new Australian operation is breaching copyright and fair use laws in how it has been taking quotes and copy from its newspapers and republishing them on their website, arguing that the publisher is guilty of breaching those laws themselves.
Last Monday News Corp sent a legal letter to the Daily Mail’s global editor-in-chief Martin Clarke accusing the publication of lifting “reams of copy” from News’ titles, and ordering the practice to stop, or face a court battle. The publisher also ran a full-page of articles in last Monday’s Media section in The Australian on the issue.
However, a fiery return statement from the Daily Mail Australia cites instances of its own copy and images had been taken without permission, while arguing that it was operating in line with “best web aggregation practice” and accusing News Corp of not understanding the fundamentals of online journalism and describing its local executives as “King Canutes”.
“News Corp’s accusations are preposterous,” said a Daily Mail Australian spokesman, “This is a cynical attempt to damage the reputation of Mail Online and its hard-working journalists.”
The Tele’s redesigned website including it’s right rail is the most blatant rip off of the Daily Mail. Everyone knows the right rail is a signature part of the Mail. They should sue News Corp for that alone, despite the lack of traffic the Tele’s website gets.
The Daily Telegraph and Sydney Morning Herald having been doing it for years now. Copying large chunks of articles from other papers without attribution.
I like the term “best web aggregation practice”, like I do ‘honour among thieves’.
Mail Online can’t get their analogies right (re: King Canute).
According to the story, the king had his chair carried down to the shore and ordered the waves not to break upon his land.
When his orders were ignored, he pronounced: “Let all the world know that the power of kings is empty and worthless and there is no King worthy of the name save Him by whose will heaven and earth and sea obey eternal laws,” (Historia Anglorum, ed D E Greenway).
The account shows Canute setting out to demonstrate that the tide would come in regardless, says Professor Simon Keynes of the department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic at the University of Cambridge.
(via BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-13524677)
Surely when News and the Daily Heil start lecturing each other on ‘ethics’ is a sign of the impending apocalypse?
Actually, this might just be the ‘War of the glass houses’
Good article. It is an interesting and massive issue… and I would love for both parties to take it to court so we can get some clarity. I agree with Simons… no one has their hands clean on this and the lack of guidelines has fostered a bit of an ‘anything goes’ attitude.
Three Words: Pot. Kettle. Black