Publisher 1 Blogspot

Nathan

The check box to allow or disallow republishing wasn't about this type of thing. It was about a relationship with a magazine that I was working on that never came to be. I just left it in there in case anything like that came up again. They were wanting to republish one thread a month in their magazine and I thought it would be good exposure to the site and introduce people to the idea of what a forum is. But once again, it fell through.

This is sort of a grey area and frankly I'm not sure what bloggers are and are not allowed to do when it comes to quoting someone on their own site.

I was under the impression that he was asking people for permission to use their content before posting it. I know he has done this in the past so I just assumed it was taking place every time. I think that's the best course of action here and I'll let him know about this thread and ask him to in the future.

Lawndart is right though, it is a good back link for your company website. Maybe not what you want but at least one good point if you don't like the exposure.

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Nathan

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." - Jim Elliot

rbsremodeling

He has never quoted me or my company before.

I do not know who he is. I have never spoken to him in my life. He has never wronged me.

I have nothing against him or his company at all. I have actually been told that he is a very nice guy and interested in doing good with in contracting industry.

Maybe pointing him out specifically is blurring what I am referring to. My concern is for our ideas and comments to become publicly re introduced under the wrong or unflattering situation. Or possibly giving away information when we where not intending to do so at a particular time.

My post called out Publishe1 and it seemed like He did something to me. He did not, let me make that clear. There are a lot of our posts on his site and he was the most obvious blog to reference in this situation

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Ed the Roofer

Was there any quoted comments that you are referring to, or just the link to the thread?

Ed

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rbsremodeling

I am going to think about this so I can explain my problem with BLOGS so that I do not put my foot further in my mouth and It seems like I am picking on this guy.

Give me some time to think this through

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Publisher1

Now I'm confused.

I can't recall quoting or using anything from the OP here and went through the recent blog entries to see if I had.

As a rule, I will communicate with posters here and tell them about blog entries relevant to their business, or where I quote them. I don't think I should need to request permission in advance because, after all, by choosing to post on a public forum, you are making a public statement. I would never use emails or private communications without requesting permission in advance. Often I will communicate on sensitive stories to arrange an email or phone interview -- but sometimes this isn't necessary to tell the story.

Often I post first and then communicate to invite corrections or revisions. Blogs, by their nature, are 'fast journalism' -- but they have an advantage over other media in that corrections can be made and the record updated. So if I hear from anyone that there are problems, I will make things right. As a rule, I never publish anything that could be identified in a negative way about any business; in situations where I am critical, I disguise the identity so that no one can tell who I am writing about.

I'm sure you can appreciate this form of journalism is both interactive and at times imperfect. I will always do my best to make things right, but when you post here (even though I live in Canada), the First Amendment applies. Regardless of the constitution, since I generally only quote and hyperlink positively, you are effectively receiving free advertising and a bonus to your page rank. If the OP wishes to communciate with me offline, maybe we can track down the problem and if necessary remove the offending post.

rbsremodeling

You have never quoted anything from me or My company.

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Nathan

I got confused to. Thanks for clearing that up.

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Nathan

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." - Jim Elliot

Cdat

That isn't the problem. I don't think the OP realises that ANYTHING he posts online is subject to be used by someone else. MANY people do not realise this. Anything you type online will be looked at by someone you don't want to see it, chances are not in your favor. So, if you want to protect your business, I'd highly suggest you THINK before you respond, to anything. That is all. Carry on, Gentlemen...

SelfContract

Internet (IP) = Public Domain (Unencrypted & Un-protected) and Virtual/Private Net (VAN) = Virtual/Private Domain (encrypted & protected).

Simple as that.

Ed the Roofer

Do I sense a story in the making about this issue? Not just about the OP in this case, but all internet postings in general.

At what level of real company name or anonymous user names and posting content does a forum poster choose to remain anonymous? Are cited contents to ever be considered libelous or out of character? Should all referred to posters be advised in advance that their commentary may wind up elsewhere?

Just for the record, from previous conversations with Mark, whom I consider as being in the upper tier of online publishers, he has always given due consideration to anything posted that may have been questionable in topic content or postings of an untastefull flavor.

At what point would a line be drawn regarding open source written content and the individuals rights to their own thoughts?

In this instant situation, I believe that we are at least being made aware of our content usage. I have seen my personal postings being aired on other formats, where I never even was aware of the establishment nor their credibility from a first hand perspective.

Ed

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Nathan

Yes and no. Everything you post can be seen by others so YES, you should be careful about what you say. This is not a private conversation. However, just because you post something online doesn't mean you give up any and all control of that content and technically it's still your content. NO, it cannot be reproduced without your permission.

The grey area comes in when you start talking about "news" sites, journalists, and how much content is being reproduced. I'm not a lawyer and I'm not going to pretend to understand all the issues here but I do want to make sure you know that you do own (are are responsible for) the content you post.

In our Terms of Service your giving us the right to publish it here when you post (obviously) and the only copyright we have is on the organization of that content. In other words if someone reproduced a thread or topic then that would start to infringe on our copyright.

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Nathan

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." - Jim Elliot

Publisher1

Internet forums and effective journalism have a symbiotic relationship. These days, many stories you see in mainline broadcast and print media start somewhere on the Internet, through forums and blogs. Things get even more interesting when someone really wishes privacy, but leaves a 'hole' through public channels. I once 'outed' someone engaged in a dubious business hiding behind walls of internet secrecy/disguise by accessing (public) business license records for one city, in an obscure but public library database.
Some people participate in closed, private and password-protected Internet forums. I belong to one such group (unrelated to construction). In this private group, we plotted a public relations campaign that we then strategically seeded with postings on a related public forum, setting the stage for mainstream media publicity and true corporate PR havoc for the affected business (this example is not to do with construction, and happened a few years ago.)
Blogs allow for highly specialized forms of journalism which would be uneconomic or impractical in previous times. If you elect to speak or communicate publicly here, your comments can legitimately be used in print, electronic, and blog media. I will always strive to be fair and positive in my writing and reporting.

BrianHay

??? Are your magazines only online or are they still in print as well?
Just curious, may want to start reading them.

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Much happier playing in the dirt than I am on the computer.

Publisher1

We have printed publications serving Ottawa, Toronto and Northern Ontario, and two titles serving North Carolina (Triangle -- Raleigh/Durham and Charlotte). We recently 'regained' our websites and these are based at their proper domains and linked through a corporate system. (You can see for example much of Charlotte Construction News at http://www.charlotteconstructionnews.com). The publications are distributed in the local areas through controlled circulation; mailed subscriptions are available outside of the local areas and information is on the relevant websites.
Soon, we will be relaunching Washington Construction News -- that's the D.C. Washington, not the west coast. Now that I've learned from my mistakes, I expect the business will grow with regional publications in most of the U.S. and Canada in the next few years.
I started the blog originally as a service to our advertisers -- if they pay serious dollars to advertise, I think they deserve respect and as much insights/information as they can gain from my research into marketing. The blog has taken on a life of its own and is helpful both in sales and qualified staff recruitment. But I do it not for the business reasons, but because I can practice unfettered journalism on a topic of real importance.

Nathan

Once again, I have NO IDEA how the law effects news / media outlets and I'm not pretending to. But I don't want people to be scared off from posting here because they think doing so releases their ownership of everything they say. That is just not the case and I've had multiple conversations with my lawyer about this. Your thoughts and ideas are yours.

My statement stands: http://www.contractortalk.com/f11/pu...x2/#post596793

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Nathan

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." - Jim Elliot

Cdat

What some of you fail to understand is that the internet is used world wide. Not everyone follows the same rules. Laws in the US don't bridge over too well in China.

Publisher1

Nathan, we are on the same page regarding copyright. If I lift materials from this site outside of the 'fair use' provisions of the copyright law, I would be violating the copyright owner's rights. Fair use, of course, is sometimes debated, but generally modest attributed quotes can be used; the volume depending on the context and use.
But if you are in a public place, speaking publicly, and a journalist hears what you are saying, he has the perfect right to accurately repeat and report on what you say. You certainly have no claim to privacy! As well, while you can copyright your words, you cannot copyright the idea and interpretation behind your public expressions.

Cdat

You think maybe you and Nathan can take this up on PM or something? Nothing personal but you coming on this forum and telling him his business isn't very professional. I was going to check your site out due to good comments from others here but your attitude has changed my mind. Just my 2 cents...

DecksEtc

Respectfully, I think you may be taking his words out of context. I have no previous ties to his blog. I didn't interpret what has been said by Publisher1 as having "attitude" or as telling Nathan his business.

JMHO.

Nathan

Mark and I have a good business relationship and I think we are on the same page on this. Hopefully I didn't throw anyone off with my posts. I just wanted to make sure people understood. We are really talking about two different things. He's talking about reporting for a news outlet and I'm talking about someone using copyrighted material and republishing it for other purposes.

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Nathan

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." - Jim Elliot