"I'd Throw You A Lifevest, But My Lawyers Won't Let Me"

by Peter Bean on Jun 16, 2008 10:45 PM CDT in News Comment 19 comments

A brief aside from Longhorn commentary, following some very unsettling news from our colleagues at Black Heart Gold Pants. You may know the Iowa bloggers for their comedy gold. And you've undoubtedly heard about their home state in the news as it deals with a flooding crisis of enormous proportions.

With entire cities under water, billions of dollars in damage, and a frightening number of injuries and deaths, the recent flooding has been devastating. Though the BHGP crew has been spared any personal loss thus far, their concern for their fellow Hawkeye state citizens led them to post this story on the flood and how people can assist those in need.

To help show the magnitude of the flood, BHGP went to the Des Moines Register online video vault, found an appropriate video of the flooding damage, selected the newspaper-provided embed code, and posted the clip along with their story. To what end? Urging readers to donate to the Red Cross or other organizations helping flood victims.

The problem? Today they received a cease and desist letter from the newspaper, telling them to remove the video within 24 hours or face a lawsuit.

This is not a trademark issue, where non-enforcement could lead to the loss of legal protection. This is a copyright issue, meaning the paper has discretion what copyrights it will litigate.

And yet - despite providing the embed code itself - they choose to threaten BHGP for posting a video... of flooding. In a post urging readers to help victims of the tragedy.

1) Let my disgust be noted on the record. I'll never be reading or linking to the paper again. I would urge other bloggers to follow suit. If you're so inclined, Des Moines Register contact information is here.

2) I'd urge everyone to make a donation to help their fellow citizens in need right now. BHGP has details on how you can help.

[UPDATE: The DMR here and elsewhere apologizes, explaining that their policies were not updated along with their technologies. Much better.]

1 recs | Comment 19 comments

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

Fantastic.

Why does the Des Moines Register hate flood victims?

by Holly Anderson on Jun 16, 2008 10:55 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I think

the guy below has it exactly right.

Go Big Red Nebraska!
Our Cobs Are Bigger Than Yours!
Corn Nation!

by corn blight on Jun 17, 2008 12:33 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Des Moines

I am a born and raised Texan, but my paternal lineage is straight out of NE Iowa farming country. Since I was little and traveling to the family farm during beautiful summers, I always felt that Des Moines was not really a part of Iowa. The “big” city pretended to be set apart from the rest of the state. It is really a pretty pathetic “little” city, nothing compared to the farmland, and Ames, Iowa City, Davenport, Cedar Rapids, et al, which are all far nicer communities. How anyone could interfere with an effort to raise awareness of the tragedy that has struck the heart of America is beyond me. Pray for our Iowan brothers and sisters – don’t give the Register another thought.

Brown Control to Major Applewhite...

by bfaut86 on Jun 16, 2008 11:47 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

That does it...

I’ve canceled my subscription to the Des Moines Register!!

by the other Andrew on Jun 16, 2008 11:58 PM CDT reply actions 1 recs

Thanks PB

And thank you all for your support, in whatever form it may be.

"Who gives a fuck about an oxford comma?"

by Hawkeye State on Jun 17, 2008 2:25 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Gannett Company

The Des Moines Register is owned by the Gannett company:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gannett_Company

Also owned by The Gannett Company are:
USA Today
USA Weekend
The Arizona Republic (Phoenix)
Indianapolis Star (Indianapolis)
The Enquirer (Cincinnati)
The Tennessean (Nashville)
The Courier-Journal (Louisville)
The Honolulu Adviser
The Detroit Free Press

If anyone’s going to stop frequenting the Des Moines Register, might as well broaden that to include all of Gannett’s holdings.

by zinzarin on Jun 17, 2008 9:48 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Well I will certainly rag a little extra on their USA Today poll...

...in my BCS Breakdown posts.

by Horn Brain on Jun 17, 2008 10:01 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

An apology

This was a misunderstanding. I apologize on behalf of The Des Moines Register. Simply an employee trying to do their job but not completely understanding our new technology (we recently got embed code on our videos). I take full responsibility for not making sure this was clear to everyone on our staff.

Chris Snider
DesMoinesRegister.com

by chrissnider on Jun 17, 2008 10:11 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

So...

Where was the mistake? Was it that the video should never have had the embedded code, or that the C&D letter should not have been sent since the DMR publicly offered said code?

So you're saying that now I have to think of some witty Sig that will be applicable across all the SBN sites? Go Texan Horn Stros!

by Shake on Jun 17, 2008 11:25 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

and a 3rd option....

Or did you guys just screw up on both accounts?

So you're saying that now I have to think of some witty Sig that will be applicable across all the SBN sites? Go Texan Horn Stros!

by Shake on Jun 17, 2008 2:59 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

An open letter to The Des Moines Register

Mr. Snider,

While it is noble you have chosen to take responsibility and completely appropriate as well it doesn’t completely address the underlying problem revealed here. The concern this employee showed in protecting the paper’s rights on the internet is fully a part of their superior’s misunderstanding of the medium. When in doubt, their best option is to act in a conservative manner – and for someone concerned about their job in a tenuous time for the industry, that’s got to be the right answer.

But instead of acting conservatively The Register should have been working to embrace other mediums with this momentous event in your state. That would mean going out of your way to encourage not only embedding of videos but interacting with the paper’s own online presence to increase awareness of the scope of this disaster.

Look at what the Times-Picayune did in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina if you need an example. It won them a Pulitzer - an opportunity you are making more difficult with this type of action.

I write this as a former newspaper reporter who finally left the business because of the intractability of my superiors on this score. Now I live in Peru and I’ve been following this story in various news outlets but also on a personal level through the blog and Twitter entries of the writers for Black Heart Gold Pants.

Think about that, I’m a hemisphere away and I’m caught up with concern for what is happening in Cedar Rapids through the power of the internet. And you’ve allowed that opportunity to reach me and all the people like me due to your policy.

Now you have been given a glimpse of this little corner of the internet through this mistake I urge you to not take out your irritation on the employee that was simply following your direction but look to see the other opportunities this has opened to you.

C.J. Schexnayder
www.kleph.com

by kleph on Jun 17, 2008 7:30 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Sorry

I apologize if this offends, but I’m bothered by the fact that, as a former newspaper reporter, your grammar in this letter is horrendous. I appreciate the content you’re trying to get across. And I know, Internet protocol and all dictates that your grammar doesn’t have to be top-notch on message boards or blogs, but if you’re going to write a scathing and insightful letter to the DMN, your message might be more effective with proper grammar.

by jc25 on Jun 18, 2008 10:57 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

A similar apology is up at BHGP

but I wonder if they will take space on their precious site to apologize to BHGP. It is also a wonder they haven’t sent BHGP a second C&D letter for posting the email which was sent. To me, this is the same as posting the video as one cannot steal what is freely given.

by GLORYOFOLDSTATE on Jun 17, 2008 10:28 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Disagree

I think it’s a pretty classy move for the paper to publicly apologize. I assume they’ll offer some other sort of written apology to BHGP in the form of a letter, email, etc., to make up for what they did. The fact that Mr. Snider also sought out BON to apologize shows that they went the extra mile to clear the matter. Kudos to them.

by jc25 on Jun 17, 2008 10:38 AM CDT up reply actions 2 recs

re:

I agree w/ you, but don’t you think that all this talk of “canceling subscriptions” is the motive behind the public apologies? Also, don’t you think that as soon as they joined SB Nation, that all the related posts popped up, and they then went to those sites to apologize. I just think that it didn’t take as much effort as you think (IMO) it did.

by vy til i die on Jun 17, 2008 1:48 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

All Apologies

I think they didn’t realize what they had on their hands until they got a message from Will Leitch this morning. The message given to him was nearly identical to the email received by an EDSBS commenter, and the one here, and the one at BHGP. But, yeah, I think what they did was good enough.

We’re still not mentioning them, though. Sonsabitches.

"Who gives a fuck about an oxford comma?"

by Hawkeye State on Jun 17, 2008 1:52 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

And, by the way

I’m perfectly fine with no apology on the DMR’s web site. Their commenters make the Fanhouse look intelligent, and I’d rather not see them show up en masse.

"Who gives a fuck about an oxford comma?"

by Hawkeye State on Jun 17, 2008 1:54 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs