Damn Interesting readers, please forgive this unusual departure from our irregularly scheduled programming. Also, please do not view this as an invitation to antagonize anyone involved, we merely want to bring this problem to light and resolve it.
Update, 10 July 2015: When I first discovered that The Dollop was using our writings in some of their episodes, I surmised that it was a callous and cynical plot to profit from others’ efforts. But following a turbulent yet predominantly civil conversation with Dave Anthony of The Dollop, I believe that their harm was not intentional, but rather a confusion of copyright, an understandable error. I received no apology, but I think I observed remorse. There are plans afoot to set things right, the matter is tentatively settled.
Amid discussions involving this post on social media, I have seen a number of commenters assert that the Fair Use exception in US copyright law protects podcasters who wish to use another’s writings—even at great length—without permission or attribution. We do not feel that is the case, as Fair Use is intended to provide wiggle room for teaching, criticism, reporting, and research to include brief quoting of copyrighted material. Fair Use is a complex and nuanced exception to copyright, so it’s possible we’re misinformed, but in our view such usage—especially without attribution—is incompatible with fair use. Let us hope we need never test our view in court.
I’ve also encountered the sentiment that one cannot copyright facts, which is true, but irrelevant to this discussion. That is a “straw man” argument, one meant to resemble our objections while being more easily defeated. No one is claiming ownership of facts here, we are claiming ownership of our words, our lengthy writings.
I hope this post didn’t cause anyone undue consternation, but I feel it’s an important conversation to have. Thanks to all who provided thoughtful input. Click through to see the full text of the original post, and comments.
