In the original article were points that have not been mentioned. (1) In the early 1900's AP sued a rival news service who was repackaging and reselling AP's stories. AP won and copyright law recognized the right for news organizations to own and resell their products. In 1976, the Ford DoJ convinced Congress to drop that exemption during an overhaul of copyright law *because* it would only contribute to the newspapers' monopoly position. [Ed. Which they don't have anymore.] There is an initiative to restore that provision of copyright law. (2) The Washington Post's revenues have been falling while Gawker reported a 45% increase in the last quarter (if memory serves). Payment is only fair. Gawker's owner said this particular article had gone farther in incorporating the original material than was usual. He is also not opposed to payment, but believes sometimes Gawker would get paid for their stories. (3) Gawker contributers (contract workers, not employees with benefits) had regularly gawked for a few years, then gone on to jobs with the likes of New York magazine. Now, that career path is gone and they only aim as high as contract-worker-at-Gawker. In other words, Gawker is no longer an entry point to traditional journalism....
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Copyright and Advertising Revenue
In the original article were points that have not been mentioned. (1) In the early 1900's AP sued a rival news service who was repackaging and reselling AP's stories. AP won and copyright law recognized the right for news organizations to own and resell their products. In 1976, the Ford DoJ convinced Congress to drop that exemption during an overhaul of copyright law *because* it would only contribute to the newspapers' monopoly position. [Ed. Which they don't have anymore.] There is an initiative to restore that provision of copyright law. (2) The Washington Post's revenues have been falling while Gawker reported a 45% increase in the last quarter (if memory serves). Payment is only fair. Gawker's owner said this particular article had gone farther in incorporating the original material than was usual. He is also not opposed to payment, but believes sometimes Gawker would get paid for their stories. (3) Gawker contributers (contract workers, not employees with benefits) had regularly gawked for a few years, then gone on to jobs with the likes of New York magazine. Now, that career path is gone and they only aim as high as contract-worker-at-Gawker. In other words, Gawker is no longer an entry point to traditional journalism....