tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14573299.post5062488956228901212..comments2024-03-28T06:48:42.379-05:00Comments on MrBrownThumb: TheGrowSpot.Com Gets TheSmackDownMrBrownThumbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11326733084344581944noreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14573299.post-91196009601970821552010-04-18T20:02:05.861-05:002010-04-18T20:02:05.861-05:00Anonymous,
Neither you or the one above you seem...Anonymous, <br /><br />Neither you or the one above you seem to understand anything about the issue. The "whole point of feeds" isn't so that other people can take them and make money off of what others are creating.MrBrownThumbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11326733084344581944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14573299.post-23912195453570354802010-04-17T20:35:17.085-05:002010-04-17T20:35:17.085-05:00I agree with Anonymous.
Thegrowspot did nothing...I agree with Anonymous. <br /><br />Thegrowspot did nothing wrong. That's the whole point of feeds.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14573299.post-15177713742770692192008-08-05T11:03:00.000-05:002008-08-05T11:03:00.000-05:00uh...this is the internet--if you want to blog, be...uh...this is the internet--if you want to blog, better expect that it will get around...that is the nature of the beast. If you don't like it, stop blogging.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14573299.post-47385822398911470152007-12-18T21:57:00.000-06:002007-12-18T21:57:00.000-06:00Just wanted to add a follow up to my comments in t...Just wanted to add a follow up to my comments in this entry. I came across this on the help pages of FeedBurner:<BR/><BR/> <BR/><BR/><B>Can FeedBurner prevent someone from using my content?</B><BR/><BR/>What I find interesting is the response given that the legality of the issue was brought up:<BR/><BR/><I>"Unfortunately, we cannot remove your feed from sites which have resyndicated or redisplayed your content without your permission. The course of action available to you is to contact the site owners yourself and demand they remove your links or content wholesale. To look up the site's Internet Service Provider (ISP) information, you can visitwww.dnsstuff.com..."</I>MrBrownThumbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11326733084344581944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14573299.post-26635458502045739102007-12-12T01:05:00.000-06:002007-12-12T01:05:00.000-06:00smgardener,Since you say you are taking measures t...smgardener,<BR/><BR/>Since you say you are taking measures to remove the content by garden bloggers that are unhappy with this I've decided to play fair and remove Luba's picture.MrBrownThumbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11326733084344581944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14573299.post-11216131118862064292007-12-12T00:13:00.000-06:002007-12-12T00:13:00.000-06:00hi,smgardener.Before taking the word of the legal ...hi,<BR/><BR/>smgardener.<BR/><BR/>Before taking the word of the legal department at GW you should speak to your own lawyers. I'm assuming the lawyers Roses mentions are the same ones that updated the TOS of the site and laid claim to all words and images, and e-mails posted on the site. Tons of people left the forum because of that...so I don't know if I'd take their liberal view of who own what without consulting someone.<BR/><BR/>I did as you suggested and this was what I got <A HREF="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rls=GGGL%2CGGGL%3A2006-21%2CGGGL%3Aen&q=%22rss+copyright+%2Bharvard%22&btnG=Search" REL="nofollow">Results</A>. While what you were directing me to was not there I think I know what you're talking about. I've seen the blog entry by a proffessor who thinks like you do. But I've also seen many rebuttals to his opinion. <BR/><BR/>And my experience with getting webhosts to remove my text or images from the websites of people who have reposted my feed contradicts his opinion. There is no legal precedent to back up your claim and honestly there isn't one to back up my side either. Laws are never up to date with technology but I think withing the next couple of years there will be one set forth by a large corporation in suit against a small publisher/webmaster.<BR/><BR/>But if you think that the laws side with you and using other people's material then go ahead and keep doing it. My experience is that it has been very easy to get a webhost to see my content republished as a violation of my copyright.MrBrownThumbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11326733084344581944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14573299.post-55219346029844728482007-12-11T23:14:00.000-06:002007-12-11T23:14:00.000-06:00Hi,This is smgardener again. Let me start by respo...Hi,<BR/><BR/>This is smgardener again. Let me start by responding individually to some of the commentors:<BR/><BR/>@Dawn: I'm sorry you had trouble accessing our site. I've just removed everything on our site related to your blog.<BR/><BR/>@Christopher C. NC: As far as civility goes, we believe we are on the right side legally and morally of this issue, and we are doing our best to reach out to the community and remove the content for people who don't want it on our site. We are not treating this like a flame war, nor are we publishing personal information about or pictures of any garden bloggers who are on the other side of this issue from us (as has been done to us).<BR/><BR/>@Yolanda Elizabet: This controversy has made us realize that there are some people who don't like this practice. We are attempting to reach out to the folks whose content we are republishing. We have removed all of your content, as you requested. Believe it or not, several of the bloggers we have contacted are happy about us publishing their content and want us to continue to do so.<BR/><BR/>@Mr Brown Thumb: Your experience with the web hosting company sounds slightly different, and I think context is important. We are not scraping content, we are simply posting content published in RSS feeds, including attribution and links back to the source material. Cleary some people don't want this, and we are making an effort to fix it for those who don't like us doing this. Also: I think you are doing a valuable service by educating your readership on this technology. I’m sad that we’re the foil for your altruism.<BR/><BR/>There's a lot of back and forth in opinions on this thread about the legality of what we are doing on the site. In addition to the lawyers that old roses mentioned from gardenweb, significant legal scholars from around the world have weighed in on our side of this matter. Do a Google search for "rss copyright harvard" and look at the first result, or "RSS, Blogging, & Copyright Questions" and look at the third result.<BR/><BR/>We are not spammers nor spreaders of viruses as has been suggested. I find it sad that Luba's good name is being dragged through the mud here since as the webmaster of and a moderator for The Grow Spot, I'm the one responsible for setting up and running this particular feature. I'm trying my best to make it right with the people who have been affected.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14573299.post-32586712018557909582007-12-11T12:29:00.000-06:002007-12-11T12:29:00.000-06:00Hi Yolanda,On Dec 9th I wrote an entry on how to "...Hi Yolanda,<BR/><BR/>On Dec 9th I wrote an entry on how to "shorten your feed" if you're interested in doing that. It gives about three options. Look it over and see if it helps if you have any questions feel free to ask in that post and I'll see if I can help.MrBrownThumbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11326733084344581944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14573299.post-91784063442980058542007-12-11T03:48:00.000-06:002007-12-11T03:48:00.000-06:00Thanks for the excellent post. Like Annie I've bee...Thanks for the excellent post. Like Annie I've been ripped off by these people too. Just got an email from them requesting me to allow them to keep stealing from my blog. Uh huh!<BR/><BR/>As for that whole RSS feed thingy: Huh? Like Jodi I'm a bit of a luddite on that score. So any help you can give me would be much appreciated!Yolanda Elizabet Heuzenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02506031220151023088noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14573299.post-24911783389578625902007-12-10T01:30:00.000-06:002007-12-10T01:30:00.000-06:00Pam @ Digging says:Great post, Mr. Brown Thumb. Th...Pam @ <A HREF="http://www.penick.net/digging" REL="nofollow">Digging</A> says:<BR/><BR/>Great post, Mr. Brown Thumb. Thanks for letting the thieves have it, and for educating me and other garden bloggers about what's going on with feeds.<BR/><BR/>I already have a shorted feed, I have a copyright notice on my blog, and I put a copyright "watermark" on my photos, and yet I still find my content lifted onto ad-blogs on a regular basis. It's very frustrating.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14573299.post-46178451274264667812007-12-09T17:54:00.000-06:002007-12-09T17:54:00.000-06:00Thank you for educating us bloggers! As a neophyt...Thank you for educating us bloggers! As a neophyte, I have so much to learn just about the basics, and you explain things so clearly. Maybe garden bloggers should get together to give out public service awards. I'd nominate you.Mr. McGregor's Daughterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05911409327006498766noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14573299.post-56810481031894516832007-12-09T13:51:00.000-06:002007-12-09T13:51:00.000-06:00Thanks for this timely post, I just checked recent...Thanks for this timely post, I just checked recent blog posts and found my words on another blog. It is a WEIRD feeling to see your exact words being used by someone else.Robin's Nesting Placehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05894844125547373328noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14573299.post-77844015772372842422007-12-09T05:31:00.000-06:002007-12-09T05:31:00.000-06:00Thank you for your outstanding post. I just found ...Thank you for your outstanding post. I just found out from reading Annie's entry a few hours ago that my blog content has also been stolen and reprinted without my permission by Grow Spot. <BR/><BR/>I'm glad to hear they are going to stop stealing Annie's blog content. I hope they will do me the same kindness. I tried to sign in to their site to say, <B>"Stop stealing/copying/publishing my blog content"</B>, but their system does not let me log-in even after registration. Not a huge surprise since I signed on using my Blog Name. *sigh*<BR/><BR/>I have shortened my feed, added a copyright claim and placed an URL link to my own entries (a kindness 'Grow Spot' has failed to do when they stole my content over and over and over).<BR/><BR/>Thanks to you & Annie for bringing this to my attention. Now hopefully we can all complain to the companies that advertize on Grow Spot so they will think twice about supporting a site that steals.<BR/><BR/>A pox on all thieves. <BR/><BR/>Regards,<BR/>DawnDawnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01818111801666078642noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14573299.post-1305452160660759352007-12-08T23:20:00.000-06:002007-12-08T23:20:00.000-06:00mr subjunctiveThe lingering question for me, then,...<B>mr subjunctive</B><BR/><I>The lingering question for me, then, is: why bother with a feed in the first place? What does having a feed do for readers? Do people not point and click anymore?</I><BR/><BR/>I guess the closest thing I could compare it to <I>in old media</I>would be the newspaper. You can walk to your nearest newsstand and buy a paper or you can get home delivery to save you the walk every morning. A feed is the home delivery of your blog and it makes things easier for the reader of the blog/website.<BR/><BR/>You know I'm not sure how I really feel about feeds. I think they're great but certainly not the best thing since sliced bread. I use them to keep updated with several sites I like/visit on a daily basis.<BR/><BR/>Feeds are one of those things that are suppose to make things easier people have room for abuse.MrBrownThumbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11326733084344581944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14573299.post-29193937884059924172007-12-08T18:34:00.000-06:002007-12-08T18:34:00.000-06:00Well okay. I stand corrected. The lingering questi...Well okay. I stand corrected. <BR/><BR/>The lingering question for me, then, is: why bother with a feed in the first place? What does having a feed do for readers? Do people not point and click anymore? <BR/><BR/>Forgive the naivete, here, but so far, all I've found about this was from sites that wanted me to use their feed ('cause it's super!), and according to them, without a feed, you may as well be scribbling your blog out in crayon and burying it in the backyard. This strikes me as being a little . . . <I>overstated</I>.mr_subjunctivehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14113199755474482747noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14573299.post-10905847273212319222007-12-08T18:22:00.000-06:002007-12-08T18:22:00.000-06:00bill at prairie point says ...Thanks for bringing ...bill at <A HREF="http://www.prairiepoint.net/journal" REL="nofollow">prairie point</A> says ...<BR/><BR/>Thanks for bringing all this to everyone's attention. It seems most bloggers were as unaware of it as I was. I hate having to look up stuff like this and deal with it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14573299.post-81531323220576058932007-12-08T17:24:00.000-06:002007-12-08T17:24:00.000-06:00Hi OldRoses,The reason the legal department says i...Hi OldRoses,<BR/><BR/>The reason the legal department says it is ok because GV was using it and covered under fair use.<BR/><BR/>I'd like to point your attention to this article<BR/><B>The Copyright Debate & RSS</B> <BR/><I>RSS is commonly defined as really simple syndication. So, this means that any material contained in a feed is available for syndication, right? Well no, not exactly. It means that the content contained in an RSS feed is in a format that is syndication friendly, if the copyright holder allows for syndication. Offering a feed for syndication does not in fact grant any legal rights to anyone to reuse the feeds content beyond what the Copyright laws grant as Fair Use...</I><BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://www.rss-specifications.com/the-copyright-debate.htm" REL="nofollow">The Copyright Debate & RSS</A><BR/>And here's the .gov page on "fair use." <A HREF="http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html" REL="nofollow">Fair Use</A><BR/><BR/>I've contacted the web hosting company of a particular site that was reposting my blog entry and the web hosting site made them remove my blog entry. The bloggers in question could contact GoDaddy (web host for TGS) and have the same thing done. I've also had my entries removed from a scraper site owned by advertising giant. <BR/><BR/>If they had the legal right to republish a feed then the web host and this large company would have told me to take a hike.<BR/><BR/>Since the site runs adsense the bloggers in question could also contact Google and file a <A HREF="http://www.google.com/adsense_dmca.html" REL="nofollow">DMCA</A> complaint.<BR/><BR/>It was one of my options in my cases which I didn't need to avail myself of because the webhost and parent company handled it when I first contacted them.MrBrownThumbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11326733084344581944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14573299.post-22017760622520914552007-12-08T16:05:00.000-06:002007-12-08T16:05:00.000-06:00Uh, oh. I'm about to burst everyone's bubble. Wh...Uh, oh. I'm about to burst everyone's bubble. When Garden Voices started, they just subscribed to any feeds they wanted and published them. Legally they and anyone else can do that. Their inhouse legal dept confirms that. When I was hired as the editor of Garden Voices, I was shocked like any other blogger. One of the conditions of my employment is that that practice be dropped and that Garden Voices only subscribes to and publishes the feeds of bloggers who have agreed to have their blogs appear on the page. As I explained to the people at GardenWeb, there is such a thing as "netiquette". They didn't believe me, but agreed to "humor" me probably in their minds to prove me wrong. After a few months and a few blow-ups from people whose feeds had been subscribed to and published before I came aboard, the powers that be at GardenWeb agreed with me and have graciously "allowed" me restrict the content of the page to bloggers who actually want to be there. <BR/><BR/>Unfortunaltely, Ms Spichkin is correct and is doing nothing legally wrong.OldRoseshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10307114475443602351noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14573299.post-66817724942129562682007-12-08T15:13:00.000-06:002007-12-08T15:13:00.000-06:00@Mr. SubjunctiveActually copyright is pretty clear...<B>@Mr. Subjunctive</B><BR/><BR/>Actually copyright is pretty clear, concerning blogs and photography are covered under copyright law. The moment you publish or press the shutter it is yours.<BR/><BR/>A CC license is a license used by the content creator that specifies how and if someone can use their work. If no CC license is present then there is no implication that the creator allows for use, in any form, of their work or passes on any rights. <BR/><BR/>And where a CC license is applicable it has a clear definition of how the work can and cannot be used and the person must comply with it exactly how it is worded.<BR/><BR/>I've come across some information that seems to indicate ignorance of the law isn't really an excuse.MrBrownThumbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11326733084344581944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14573299.post-82240559069950556962007-12-08T13:37:00.000-06:002007-12-08T13:37:00.000-06:00I'd be inclined toward giving the benefit of the d...I'd be inclined toward giving the benefit of the doubt, on the grounds that it's often not clear what the legal status of the posts on a blog actually is, unless there's a Creative Commons logo spelling things out. That said, ignorance is not much of an excuse, and common courtesy, if nothing else, would suggest that getting permission before reposting is what you'd want to do. If you were only interested in altruistically upping somebody else's hit count, you could just link to them, after all.mr_subjunctivehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14113199755474482747noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14573299.post-64197145388233436662007-12-08T12:46:00.000-06:002007-12-08T12:46:00.000-06:00MBT ... you are my hero :) All I can add to this ...MBT ... you are my hero :) All I can add to this conversation is "those that can't, take".OhioMomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05707708610825016870noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14573299.post-50338823432977823112007-12-08T11:08:00.000-06:002007-12-08T11:08:00.000-06:00If smgardener thinks this conversation is uncivil ...If smgardener thinks this conversation is uncivil then s/he is spending too much time stealing stuff and not enough time actually participating in forums and blogs.Christopher C. NChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15621322814577793080noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14573299.post-42160970567767149922007-12-08T09:52:00.000-06:002007-12-08T09:52:00.000-06:00Mr Brown Thumb, Reading your post and comments has...Mr Brown Thumb, <BR/><BR/>Reading your post and comments has been an education for me and for a lot of other readers - not only in content - but discovering how much passion and intelligence you instill in your writing. <BR/><BR/>I, too, thought that our posts were pretty restrained, considering what could have been said. <BR/><BR/>Thank you for everything, <BR/><BR/>Annie at the Transplantable RoseAnnie in Austinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14662139490401110432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14573299.post-65084570458615809142007-12-08T07:21:00.000-06:002007-12-08T07:21:00.000-06:00An interesting post. On matters I had not really c...An interesting post. On matters I had not really considered before thanks. Imight have to look further into this myself (Feedburner settings) that isBare Bones Gardenerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08443350468144468935noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14573299.post-2425747490683098432007-12-08T05:41:00.000-06:002007-12-08T05:41:00.000-06:00I am a pretty new blogger and i found your inform...I am a pretty new blogger and i found your information to be very helpful. I guess i am so new i did not even knew that this stuff went on. I guess the whole internet thing is an anarchy without considerations. I do hope you can post more of these encounters because people like me need this info to help protect ourselves. <BR/><BR/>Thank you !!<BR/>you are more help than just in the plant section :)<BR/><BR/>Krista<BR/>randomblogging.comKristahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01351136015758960558noreply@blogger.com