Heyyy, I came back..

The loneliness off the long distance whistleblower.

Ah, the power of modern Social Media. I recently joined a local “poetry” group. The organiser of the group published a piece of some-one else’s work on the site, without the author’s byline. (And, I suspect, without the author’s knowledge or permission.) A few days later, she admitted that it was not her work, and named the author, but did not take down the publication. Her claimed ratification for the publishing was her admiration for the author’s work.

 I, being an author myself, decided to notify the original author of the work of the event. “Shame!” I hear you cry. I phrased it as a question. ie; ‘Did you know that a piece of your work has been published without your byline on media XYZ, and did you give permission for this?’ .  I note that the work has now been taken down, but also that I have been summarily removed as a group member. No notice, no reason given. No opportunity to ask why, as I have been summarily stripped of any access rights, and can’t even send an e-mail to the organiser to ask. I wonder why? I was not the person who infringed some-one else’s copyright, and the original author surely has the right to demand recognition for intellectual property rights!? The fact that no financial advantage was gained (I believe) is not a valid reason to infringe copyright! Nor is alleged admiration for the author. And to then not even have the courtesy to give the author’s byline can only lead to speculation about motivation.

But this is where the inherent evil of modern media comes in. I am denied the right of any further communication. Good, bad, or indifferent. I have obviously offended the organiser’s self-imposed right to ‘borrow’ some-one else’s work without recognition. There is no comeback, the organiser controls the group’s communications!

 My argument is as follows though: If permission had been obtained, my ‘blowing the whistle’ would have been ignored by the author, and nothing more would have come of it. So, it follows that obviously no permission was obtained. If person B does not report the knowledge of a crime by person A, then that, by law, is aiding and abetting. Does person A then have the right to punish person B for reporting the crime? And, the right to bar person B from justifying such?

Surely, anyone who writes in the public domain knows about copyright? How could anyone organising a poetry group not know of this? How would they feel if some-one else published their work, without acknowledging them as the owner of the intellectual property? Or is it a case of ‘one rule for me, but a different one for you’? Always remember that in today’s shrinking world, it doesn’t matter if the copyright owner lives on the other side of the globe, the copyright is international. What, if anything, have I done wrong?

There you have it. My little gripe for justice.  Any comments? 

And I'm still looking for more work, if anybody wants some proofreading done!