THE POWER OF BLOGS
Blogs are powerful tools. They can raise awareness, they can even earn you money (although I've yet to make anything from mine) but they can also lose you your job.
Earlier this week I had to dismiss one of our staff for posting copyrighted material from our magazines onto a personal blog. To be fair the person in question did remove all the offending items within hours of being dismissed, but as a publisher there's no way we can allow our material, or that to which we have been granted rights to reproduce, to be used anywhere other than in our own titles. It's like giving away our crown jewels.
I think this incident is clear cut - you cannot and should not knowingly breach anyone's copyright - but it underlines the fact that bloggers do need to be careful what they write.
7 comments:
Did you give him a warning and explain everything to him or just sack him on the spot?
Same for BK but when I want to promote an article I wrote, I just link to the BK's website.
Did s/he even get a warning? Wow that's harsh. But if the person knew s/he was violating the policy when posting it then you did the right thing.
Would you mind if I asked what magazine you work for?
Hey Andrew, just a question. Do they breach copyright even if they credit or reference the material?
My management style is to be open and to talk to the person and ensure they know exactly what is happening, and why the action is being taken.
I think in 99 per cent of cases nothing will happen if you use something from the internet and credit the original source, but technically and legally you are still breaching copyright - if you use a story word for word.
Our situation is different because all our editorial staff work to a Code of Standards that specifically prohibits things like even mentioning your association with the magazine on a personal blog. Breaching that Code in any way results in instant dismissal - it has to because this magazine prides itself on world-class standards of editorial and conduct. Kitty - if you look in the background of the image of me and my secretary (two days ago) you will see the front cover of the magazine I work for, or look back a month or so and there are a few more subtle references. It's a WEEKly BUSINESS (swap those around) magazine that we have licensed for Thailand.
The most serious part of what happened was that this person was posting stories BEFORE they had appeared in the magazine. That would be like Kitty putting her BK stories on her own blog a week before they are published. I think her editor would be asking some serious questions if that happened.
It would be like me telling you the name of the important person I am interviewing at 11am this morning.
sooooo....did you give he/she a warning?
Please answer the question.
Anonymous - In this siutation no warning was given because what happened was considered (and the employee agreed) a serious breach of the employment contract. It had the potential to seriously damage our reputation and brand image.
Ok, thats fair enough.
It's certainly easier firing staff in Thailand then in western countries!
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