How often do you read blogs? Do you author one yourself? Congratulations! Now get in the truck because you’re going to jail.
Let me back up just a bit. Social Media, and Blogs in particular, have sapped the exclusivity of delivering the news from the traditional go to source for information: newspapers. Many papers are working hard to expand their digital offerings to bring back readers into their tents.
Then there’s Connie Schultz of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Ms. Schultz, who is married to US Senator Sherrod Brown, allegedly supports legislation that would rewrite our country’s copyright law to ban linking and summarizing news articles. That means if you write a blog post linking to a news article, you have just broken the law.
Copyright Law Would Stifle Newspaper Supporters
I don’t have an axe to grind with newspapers, in fact I read their articles every day (thanks to Google News). So do the papers have a point with their ‘Outlaw Agenda’? Am I stealing from them by reading an article someone links to on their own blog?
If a blogger rips off an article and steals its content to post on their site, that is a violation of the law and should be prosecuted. However, linking to a news article actually sends a paper more traffic, which means the article gets more page views, and thus more ad revenue.
Newspapers have a giant strategic advantage, by the way. Don’t be fooled, they still command a huge (though shrinking) following and have cash on hand to fund creative new digital efforts. Instead of rattling their sabers at Google and bloggers, why not just cut out the middleman and partner directly with the people and sites sending them revenue?
Start a local ad network. Hire developers so you can sell new digital products. Buy a drum and begin hocking moonshine out of the back of trucks. Just don’t shut down my blog.
If you support the Social Media Commando and want to protect your freedom of speech, please Follow me on Twitter and ReTweet this post (just click the pretty green ‘Tweet’ button below).