Beware the Angry Internet Mob - The Web Is Not Public Domain

It all started two weeks ago when college student Monica Gauido found out she had been published in Cooks Source magazine -- which sounds well and good until you discover that Cooks Source used Gauido's recipe without permission.


After inquiring to the magazine, Gauido discovered that it was not an innocent mixup. After asking for a Facebook apology, a printed apology in the magazine and $130 to be donated to the Columbia School of Journalism, Gauido got the following reply from Judith Griggs of Cooks Source:


"But honestly Monica, the web is considered 'public domain' and you should be happy we just didn't 'lift' your whole article and put someone else's name on it!...If you took offence and are unhappy, I am sorry, but you as a professional should know that the article we used written by you was in very bad need of editing, and is much better now than was originally. Now it will work well for your portfolio. For that reason, I have a bit of a difficult time with your requests for monetary gain, albeit for such a fine (and very wealthy!) institution. We put some time into rewrites, you should compensate me!"


The rewrites that were required? Taking Gauido's use of olde English and modernizing it, which was the entire point of her Godecookery website from which the recipe was lifted. As you can imagine, the backlash to Griggs and Cooks Source has been swift on the Internet. Cooks Source's Facebook page was quickly overrun with people bashing the company, particularly as people began to discover other places from which Cooks Source lifted their recipes, tips, and articles, including the Food Network, NPR, WebMD, Martha Stewart, Weight Watchers, Paula Dean, and Southern Living, just to name a few. A Google Documents spreadsheet was started detailing over 160 different places where information was taken from. 


Now, Cooks Source has closed their website and Griggs posted a statement saying that the negative publicity will likely be the "final straw" for Cooks Source. TechCrunch says, "Congrats, Self-Righteous Internet Mob. You Killed a Magazine." 


Frankly, we at S2EO have to disagree. Griggs and Cooks Source didn't just make one mistake. As TechCrunch says, they made "one series of mistakes," but that series was what their entire magazine was on -- content. And as providers of content ourselves, we don't feel too sorry about the Internet mob justice that was handed out.


In this age of copying and pasting, it's very easy to lift content. Search Google Images for that picture you need. Copy Wikipedia or steal a paragraph here or there -- at S2EO, we see it all the time when we do research: as we look for research articles, we'll see the exact same piece four or five times. But the Internet is not public domain. Are you looking for some free pictures for your website? Check out Wikimedia Commons, media files that anyone can use for free. Of course, they may still come with copyright restrictions -- some are public domain, but others require author credit or other permissions. All are clearly labeled. Are you looking for content? Consider hiring an actual content provider and paying money to get custom content provided for you. It may not be free, but it's certainly a lot better that having to shut down your business as a result of a few costing -- and illegal -- measures. 


Thoughts? Do you think Cooks Source got a bad rap, or what they deserved? How does your business get its content? Let us know in the comments below.