Wise Advice
Veteran authors share their experience
with ASJA members Andrea King Collier, Sam Greengard, Sallie Randolph, Florence Isaacs and Minda Zetlin

Q: "I'm steaming mad. What I thought was a short excerpt from my blog is an entire page in a new book, and all the author said was that she read this in a popular blog. Not just a little blurb, this was a full page! You would think the publisher would have given full credit to the writer. Now what? Do I keep blogging away, unpaid, my work unattributed? Do I jump up and down and scream and say, 'How about me? How about my writing?' Do I point out the little copyright sign at the bottom of my blog and start calling dial-a-lawyer?"

Florence Isaacs
There's so much blogging these days and so much of it is by ordinary people, rather than published writers and professionals in other fields. The quality of blogs varies so enormously, ranging from a great deal of inane chatter to important observations and commentary, etc. As a result, some people think the usual standards of plagiarism don't apply. People often don't value blogging in the same way they value the printed page in newspapers and magazines. There's also the issue of penalties. If you lift an article from The New York Times, you're not only more likely to get caught—but to be prosecuted and vilified in public. Most blogs don't have the same clout.

By all means contact a lawyer for advice if you can or want to, although I suspect there's not much you can do. And only you can decide whether exploring your options is worth the expense involved. I've been thinking about blogging myself, and haven't yet decided whether the investment in time and effort is worth the payoff. I'm leaning toward not doing it because I'm not a fast writer and it feels like a chore to write something once a week (or even more frequently) when I'm busy with paying assignments. Now you've added another issue I hadn't considered before.

Sam Greengard
It's understandable that you're upset. The author/publisher should have provided a credit and mentioned your name. Alas, there's not a whole lot you can do at this point—other than to contact the publisher and author and point out that excerpting an entire page from your blog isn't right and doesn't abide by the spirit of copyright law. Call a lawyer? Probably a major waste of time and money. It would be tough to prove any real financial loss as a result of this incident. And even if you could do so, a legal dispute is time-consuming and mentally draining.

Not to be disrespectful, but your tone is negative and somewhat antagonistic. Should you continue blogging? Only you can answer that question. I'm not sure this incident takes anything away from your blog, however, or the potential exposure you get from it. By the same logic, those who get their ideas stolen while querying (rare but it does happen) would stop querying because of a theft. What good does this do them? Personally, I'd stop huffing and puffing and just move on. Life isn't always fair but maintaining a positive attitude will get you a lot further in the long run.

Andrea King Collier
The blogosphere is the Wild Wild West. Your question is something that all of us are looking to figure out. What happens when we post? Who gets to pluck it off as their own? You could send the person a note and ask her to remove it. You could sue, but my guess is that you would spend more money than you would make in this instance. One ASJA member did sue a media group for lifting her work without attribution or compensation—and won.

Use the same rules of thumb to protect your online work as you do your magazine or newspaper articles. But know that if you want to chase down someone who steals your content, it's up to you to do so. There is no agency that is offering you that kind of protection or resources.

I am doing more and more writing for my blogs and as a guest blogger. I weigh what I want out of it and whether it's worth the risk. I also monitor things pretty closely to know where my work is showing up. I also am reading Chris Anderson's new book, Free, to get some clues about this new world of content.

Minda Zetlin
First of all, congratulations. "Never have so many said so little to so few," is the usual joke about blogging, so the fact that yours is so popular is an accomplishment.

If you haven't registered copyright for your blog entries, that should be your next step, because without it you have little legal recourse. (You can find information on the ASJA website about copyright registration and why it's important.) That said, if you did sue, the only winners would likely be the lawyers.

There's another option: Use the incident to get something you want. Call the author and say, "I'm glad you enjoyed my blog entry enough to include it in your book but I was disappointed not to be credited as its author, especially with such a long excerpt. I know you can't go back in time and change a book that's already out, but since you found my blog so useful, I'm hoping you'd be willing to...." Fill in the blank: Mention my blog whenever you do public appearances/introduce me to your agent or publisher/link to my blog from your website, etc. An author who knows you're letting him or her off the hook may be eager to do you a favor, so use that to your advantage.

Sallie Randolph
Your question isn't clear about the details, some of which may be legally significant. Was the excerpt a full page in the book or full page from your blog? What made you expect that an author would use a short excerpt in a book? Were you contacted for permission? If you gave permission, were you specific about the length of the excerpt and the credit required? Have you registered the copyright in your blog postings?

From a legal perspective, there may be some unwarranted assumptions about this frustrating situation. For example, most book publishers expect the authors to clear permission, so it's unlikely that a publisher would be involved in the giving or withholding of credit. Also, while you would have preferred receiving credit, there is no legal requirement that you do so. Further, the author's use of your work might well under copyright law have constituted fair use.

Copyright law is extremely complex, frequently misunderstood and the subject of many myths. Even assuming that the book author is guilty of blatant copyright infringement, this situation calls for a diplomatic solution rather than a hard-nosed legal approach. You also should be cautious about making accusations, because you could be wrong. My legal advice would be to learn from this experience, put it behind you and move on.