Miami Herald bullies Florida blogger

Remember a year or so ago when the Associated Press went after the guy who runs the parody news aggregator, the Drudge Retort, and threatened to sue him for linking to excerpts from AP articles on his website (and in at least one instance, for use of an AP excerpt by a commenter)? There was a bit of hubbub for a short time, but eventually the AP figured out that they had a complete loser of an argument, in light of the Fair Use doctrine (as cited in the disclaimer at the bottom of this very blog), and the controversy went away quietly.

You'd think that mainstream corporate media organizations would learn from the AP's experience and therefore refrain from threatening bloggers with frivolous litigation, wouldn't you? Well, you would be wrong ... and, as it turns out, the Next Big Scary Newspaper Threats are happening right here in America's Wang™.

There's one executive at the [Miami] Herald who's apparently so satisfied that everything is running smoothly that she took some time out of her busy day to fire off a threatening email to Random Pixels over a few Miami Herald photos I posted yesterday.

Suzanne Levinson, whose title is Director of Site Operations for the Miami Herald, sent me an email this morning with the ominous subject line, "Use of Miami Herald photos on your blog‏."

Here's part of her email:

It has been brought to our attention that the web page located at http://randompixels.blogspot.com/2009/08/random-pixels-recognizes.html has content reproduced from The Miami Herald and MiamiHerald.com.

Please remove these photos and any other Miami Herald content present on your site immediately.
[...]
[We] do not allow reproduction of complete stories or full-sized photos.
[...]
Please reply with confirmation of action taken within 5 business days or this matter will be forwarded to the McClatchy Company's legal department for further action.

My first reaction was "what took you so long?" My second was to ignore her.

But after thinking about it a bit more I responded that I didn't use full-sized photos; rather I resized them. I also pointed out that because the post was meant as a parody, it was in my opinion, protected under the fair use doctrine, an area of the law that many lawyers can't agree upon.

I also pointed out that my blog is a non-commercial blog with a limited audience and I didn't see how posting a few small photos posed a threat to the business interests of the Herald.

This is exactly the kind of dick-swinging tactics that the AP tried -- unsuccessfully -- last year, and it's not going to work this time, either. The big papers -- which are barely keeping their collective heads above water because most of them can't report the news for shit anymore -- get angry because we bloggers call them on their shit far too often for their liking, and they look bad in the process. So they throw around a few Latin phrases and get an executive or one of their high-powered (and expensive) lawyers to write a strongly worded email and think that we'll just back down and say "Thank you, sir, may I have another?" like ... well, like Democrats in Congress when challenged by the minority party.

But short of out-and-out plagiarism, like taking someone else's work and reproducing it as one's own without attribution, the papers don't have a legal leg to stand on. Bloggers -- at least the ones I know -- are scrupulous about linking and citing and attributing properly -- to my mind, if I make an assertion on this sucky blog, I want to back it up with whatever support I can in order to bolster my credibility*. So I link and I cite and so do most of us ... and that's why the Herald's legal position is dead in the water.

Simply put, "fair use" means that we can quote and excerpt and cite to our heart's content -- with proper attribution, of course -- so long as we do so "in an effort to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc.," as the disclaimer below explains. Fair use, in short, is a settled aspect of U.S. copyright law, and unless media bullies like the Herald can show that a blogger has used an outrageous amount of their material, or has done so for commercial purposes, or has caused egregious damage to the value of that material to the original source, they are, in layman's terms, fucked.

Blast Off! fully supports Random Pixels in fighting back against the Herald and its lawyers and, provided I passed the Florida Bar exam (I find out a month from today; I'm already licensed in two other states), I'll be happy to provide legal counsel as appropriate (pro bono, naturally) to defend against any potential litigation. In the meantime, I encourage media outlets whose material is used or linked or cited here to send me a threatening email ... just so I can have the immense pleasure of telling you where to stick it.

(h/t South Florida Daily Blog)

---

* I feel compelled to note that right-wing blogs are far less likely to provide attribution, given their notorious aversion to facts, but that is well beyond the scope of this particular post.

I'd like to thank the Academy ...

I'm reminded of that famous Onion headline (right) ... except this time, it's HOLY SHIT: BLAST OFF! WINS POST OF THE YEAR

I'm stunned and surprised and honored and humbled, all at once. The voters have spoken, and Blast Off!'s March post, "My Date With Debbie," took the prize for 2008 Post of the Year from the South Florida Daily Blog.

My friend Virgotex made an excellent point just now on Twitter. She said that the commentary on that post represents what political blogging is all about. And, indeed, that's why I do it. Sure, I try sometimes to be a little shocking or incendiary -- certainly uncivil -- but the point is to get people to think: about their positions on issues, about the consequences of ignoring political or governmental misconduct (viz., the last eight years in the White House), about life in Florida and what it's all about from one inferior blogger's perspective.

Anyway, I want to thank all the voters, and thanks especially to Libby for her kindness.

Congratulations to all the nominees -- it was an amazing group of posts representing a terrific year in the south Florida blogosphere. And thanks again for your support!

Blast Off! is up for a Major Award

Click on the image to go cast your vote!

I am pleased to announce that a post from Blast Off! is one of 12 nominees for Post of the Year over at the South Florida Daily Blog.

Back in March, "My Date with Debbie" was the SFDB Post of the Month, and now it's up for the annual nod for 2008 along with ten other posts, all superb, from throughout the south Florida blogosphere (there was no award for January).

Just click here to vote for Blast Off!, or your favorite. And thanks for supporting the blogs of America's Glans™. Voting will be open through Saturday, January 31.

Wrong, wrong, wrong

Rick, of South Florida Daily Blog, gets it.

And if this dumbass country elects Huggy Bear in November, we're all going to get it. Not in a good way, either.

Blind squirrel finds acorn

Well, this is cool:

This sucky blog had the March Post of the Month at Rick's place, South Florida Daily Blog. I'm proud and honored. And although the winning post, chronicling my encounter with Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), earned only a plurality victory with 41% of the vote among four contenders, I'm going to take a page from Drunky McStagger and govern like it's a fucking mandate. Suck. On. That.

I'm kidding, of course. The competition was tough indeed; if you haven't already checked them out, please do so. Congratulations to all nominees. And thank you to all voters.

Thanks, Rick

The South Florida Daily Blog, which goes through the best of the blogosphere in America's Glans™ each day, has bestowed the coveted Post of the Week award on Blast Off! for Tuesday's interview with Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

I'd like to thank the Academy ... and, of course, Rick of SFDB.

Welcome back, Rick

Well, that didn't take long, fortunately for us in the SoFla blogosphere. And although I knew about it last month, I'm late to the party ... just as I was in December, when I learned of the demise of Stuck on the Palmetto.

But better late than never, as I offer a big Blast Off! welcome back to Rick, formerly of SotP, who rejoins us with the new South Florida Daily Blog. Worth a daily look, I'd say ... or more than one, even.