Friday, December 21, 2012

Jo mera hai woh tera NAHI hai.......or the Times of Indignation

I have now been blogging for 6 years. And counting. The sheer expanse of years, thanks to being on the wrong side of 60, and the rich experiences and amazing people I have met , make for wonderful subjects when I think of doing a post.

Think of millions  of folks like me, writing up stuff , and posting it.

We now have a publicly available mighty source of  articles anyone can read. Some read, enjoy, comment and discuss.

And some, use the blogosphere as an infinite sink from which to blatantly pick up articles to fill up their columns in print. 

In 2011, one such post of mine, "A touch of a thousand words" was selected by the publishers/editors  of the Chicken Soup series of books, for inclusion in the Chicken Soup for the Indian Soul-A Book of miracles. I signed a contract, and was delighted to get my 2 free copies and a payment .

Imagine my consternation when a friend from Delhi, saw my entire Chicken Soup article, published under a title called Soul Soup , in Dec 9, 2012, in the New Delhi edition of the Sunday "The Speaking Tree" weekly edition on page 4. It mentioned my name, the book series, and the publisher.  She told me about it, and was aghast when she learned that I had no clue about its appearance, since I was not contacted. She even sent me the hard copy of the paper.

Strangely enough, when I tried looking at the e-version of this , the other articles by folks like Ashwin Sanghi, also  on Page 4 that day , showed up , but my article did not show up.  The said article by Ashwin Sanghi appeared next to my article column in the actual paper, and should have shown up in the e version. 

Something in my contract with the publishers mentioned that people needed to take permission of the publisher before reproducing the article.  I checked with the editor and publisher, and was told that no permissions were asked . I have emails saying that.

I hold the copyright to that printed article.  The blog post of mine that I submitted that later got selected, appears on my blog with a creative Commons license declarations on screen.

I would like to ask why big media houses like Times of India, with all their resources, libraries, eminent contributors, staff, hardware software and humanware, feel it necessary to blatantly pick up articles written by others in violation of copyright.  What stops them from sending a quick email and asking for permission ?   

(To be fair, Femina once featured my blog link  and some small information about me on one of their pages.  They emailed, communicated and took permission before proceeding. And informed me when it appeared in the magazine. No problems.  )

I had an earlier experience with another leading Mumbai newspaper, that published another blog post without my explicit permission.  I was told I gave permission. I sent them copies of emails exchanged, that clearly asked them to check with me and ask before using my material. And that they never asked  for it, regarding that post.

They then said they would not compensate monetarily , as the online page where it appeared was "demonetized" ie it did not earn them revenue !. Despite Google ads showing up with liver transplant,singing classes, housing and Air India ads to name a few. Then I was told Google ads happen by themselves.  I had to remind them that surprise, surprise , I knew one needs to sign up for Google AdSense, and one earns from that.  I just wondered what someone who didn't know about Google ads would have done . Maybe they thought they could intimidate with jargon like demonetise and lies about Google ads. I have the entire email history record of when this was discussed.    After a detailed skirmish, they sent me a cheque and apologized. 

Is this a sign of the times ? Is lawlessness, powerhungryness, and blatant lifting, the new  mantra amongst the media types ? Are scruples old-fashioned ?  Does ambition blind ?  Is taking some one's permission a sign of weakness ?  And does everything operate on the basis of quid-pro-quid ?

Would their attitude change if I was an advertiser of the paper ?

We see this trespassing attitude everywhere. Chalega. Usme kya hai ? Dekh Lenge. Rules are for others. 

See how those in power behave across the country. Personally or commercially.

They say money speaks. Having a lot, and being  a big set-up media outfit is a potent combination that sometimes misleads folks.

 And makes them forget what the elders/founders  taught them when they were little. 

To say Please, and May I, and Thank you



 (I am in communication with the folks of TOI.   So, I am told,  are the publishers.   Waiting for a response.  Me, that is.  None as yet, 24 hours after email was sent.  Will update when I hear from them.  )

      


 


35 comments:

  1. This is very unfortunate. Times of India has been a serial offender and it shows how publishing houses are stealing quality content from bloggers blatantly. They stole a picture from my blog 4 years ago and never replied when I mailed.
    Shame on them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes. I heard today of one more case . Must be brought to public notice. Thanks for your support !

      Delete
  2. very unfortunate!!.....

    http://www.myunfinishedlife.com/

    ReplyDelete
  3. Very unfortunate. Good that you raised your voice. Joh mera hai woh tera nahin hai, without asking me. Looking forward to see what their reply is. How blatant can they get?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Received a short reply. Words must be followed with action. lets see. But thank you for showing support !

      Delete
  4. Such unprofessional behavior by newspapers is increasing and is really frustrating. Another leading newspaper did a similar thing with my posts. However, when I wrote to them, they started taking permissions. But how come they do not know the basics of publishing? God know how many posts of how many people are being copied like that. We came to hear about ours but what about so many who are completely unaware?
    If they like the Carrie Bradshaw in us so much, they should rather make us a columnist... or a Blogumnist (sound cool, will post about it!). I guess we should start a petition or some movement to stop such plagiarism. Kai mhanta?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As I mentioned in the post, the Femina people did take permission. I guess all five fingers are not similar.

      And I love the word Blogumnist. Kai Mhanoo ?

      Delete
  5. A sign of the times indeed, Suranga. Newspapers are not what they used to be. How can they remain immune to the deep rot in our society itself? After all, it is we who are in charge everywhere. Are you aware that some of the top companies release products of slightly inferior quality to the third world countries? And the same is true of their after-sales service and support, while they dare not do that that to the developed world. It is because we take ourselves for granted and then what stops them for doing the same to us! I am sorry for digressing, but deep down you will find it is relevant.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes. Its a sign of the times we live in. Thank you for the support .

      Delete
  6. This is indeed disappointing. why is it so difficult for these people to understand that it really does not take too much of an effort to be honest and upfront about your dealings! And to think that so much of your time effort and energy is just going wasted in this "skirmish" as you call it, which you could have spent constructively elsewhere. But you really don't have an option in this case but to raise a hue and cry. Letting them get away with such behaviour is an absolute no-no. Hope that you get your due and soon:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Honesty is not in fashion these days. Cheating and usurping is. So those who make an issue and write are considered stupid.

      Thank you for the support !

      Delete
  7. Unbelievable ! A leading daily in India doesn't even understand its responsibility and above all masking their intentions !!!!!!!

    Good on you that you were able to get them to come to book ! Geez..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. HW, I havent been able to get them to do anything so far. I have emailed, got a short reply after 36 hours, where my email was just fwded by A to B. But one must keep up the effort. Thanks for your support !

      Delete
  8. Shocking indeed! To publish Book extracts, perhaps would need both the publishers' and author's written consent in advance!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Forget taking permissions in advance, this is pure trespassing on what was mine. Its an upward task, but thank you for your support.

      Delete
  9. And to think that TOI is one of the leading newspapers! They should know that you need to take permission before publishing.

    Kudos to you for not letting this slide...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes. Even I was surprised that they did this. Then I spoke to some others, and now am not surprised any more.

      Delete
  10. That's terrible. It shows their attitude ... thinking they can get away with anything. Disgusting!
    So glad you didn't take it lying down and are fighting back...

    ReplyDelete
  11. Glad that you chose to raise your voice. Serves them right.

    Joy always,
    Susan

    ReplyDelete
  12. Really!!! The nerve - that too, from someone as reputed as TOI - from the comments of the others, it certainly looks like TOI is a regular offender - shame!

    ReplyDelete
  13. How atrocious! I am not surprised though! I hope they respond properly, Suranga. I always marvel at what stops these people from asking permission. Sad state of things.

    Cheers! Vidya

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Vidya, powerful folks by definition ride roughshod over the hoi-polloi. Taking permissions is a sign of weakness I guess. Just look at whats happening in the country !

      Delete
  14. Difficult to imagine why reputed newspapers do this! If not permission, at least attribution in online editions ought to be given. Like the headline a lot!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They smartly left it out of the online edition. Attribution is fine, but when someone holds the copyright to the print material, permissions are de rigeur.

      Delete
  15. Terrible! Hope you hear from them soon.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Such unprofessional behavior is not new in India. Once my hubby's clicked pic was used by their online edition without permission and when we contacted them, the same proceedings happened.

    It is sad that we don't believe in respecting other's rights.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unprofessional is the word. I am now finding out that a No about somethingalso means a Yes. Abusing language along with people ?

      Delete
  17. I don't know if authors shoud handle this problem legally.....can we.
    In the meantime,let us hope the publications show due respect to authors

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Chowlaji, one of the perks of being BIG is that you can change meanings of words. "Respect to authors" bahut dur ki baat hai.....

      Delete
  18. This is totally unacceptable unprofessional behavior! What is so difficult about getting permission and attributing articles to the original author?!

    ReplyDelete