Copyright infringement complaint from The Onion

Email from The Onion | 09/19/03 | Sean Mills

[Jim Robinson]

Subject: Copyright infringement

Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2003 16:27:04 -0400

From: Sean Mills smills@theonion.com

To: webmaster@freerepublic.com

Dear Free Republic,

It has come to our attention that you have published a number of pieces of Onion content at:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/keyword/onion

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/k-onion/browse

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/fr/583819/posts

This material was published in THE ONION and the images you are presenting are being served by our servers. The material that you are publishing was published without permission of ONION, INC. Further, the material is copyrighted. You have infringed on our copyright and we, therefore, demand that you immediately cease and desist from any further use of the copyrighted material and remove the material from your website. In addition, you may not use the material in any other manner whatsoever.

Please understand that we anticipate your full and immediate cooperation in this matter. Also, please understand that we do not hesitate to enforce our rights in these situations.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Sean Mills

[Jim Robinson]

Please so not post anything from The Onion.

Thanks,

Jim

[Tijeras_Slim]

Darn shame they're limiting their exposure this way. Sigh...

[Phantom Lord]

Caving so quick?

[Rodney King]

Well, there goes my patronage of the onion. I used to go theref 2 - 3 times per week.

[Mr. Bird]

So, this is satire, right?

[4mycountry]

There goes your fav threads, eh?

[B Knotts]

Me, too. I won't go there anymore.

[rwfromkansas]

I have e-mailed smills@theonion.com, not in a mean way or anything, but just pointing out to him the potential readership he is losing.

[Just another Joe]

Everyones after a piece of the pie, aren't they?

Hey folks, a request from the man.

[mountaineer]

Are you volunteering to pay the damages if the Onion sues?

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Can we post a link to their site/articles?

[Constitution Day]

Well, I for one have posted several things from The Onion.

This sucks.

[mdittmar]

The onion stinks,no tears here;)

[Mr. Bird]

I understand their concern, but it's misplaced. It seems that the only Onion pieces that are posted deal with topics frequently discussed here. How many Freepers have been introduced to the site because of the posts, and continue to visit their site because of the initial exposure here?

Darn shame.

[Fred Mertz]

How come this isn't under Humor?

[Phantom Lord]

Nope. Isnt that what the FR Legal Defense Fund is for?

How long did Jim battle the LA Times and Washington Post and now an email has him cowering?

Virtually everything that starts a thread is copywrited. Soon, FR may consist of nothing buy vanity ramblings.

[MineralMan]

"Caving so quick?"

Well, unlike news sources, the Onion is fiction, satirical at that. I suspect that Jim has no choice in this matter, for the sake of FR.

Frankly, I won't miss Onion postings. Too many folks have taken them seriously in the past, causing confusion in those threads.

No problem, Jim!

[1rudeboy]

Well, that makes the nomenclature: LAT/WP/O.

[MrLeRoy]

Not even excerpts?

[Constitution Day]

Excellent question!

[Frapster]

lol - no great loss. I've read the onion 2 times in the last year - both times after someone posted an article here or uo.stratics.com.

[Liberal Classic]

I've always wondered about deep linking of images.

The Onion are a bunch of wankers if you ask me.

[jern]

I agree. FR is how I found out about the Onion. That article about the PETA stormtroopers killing people to save a rabbit was one of the funniest articles ever.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Last bunch I would expect of having no sense of humor.

[KC Burke]

Caving so quick?

If there is anything that Jim show's respect for outside politics, it is the hard work of another webmaster. If you recall, even after the hard words and link removal by Matt D, Jim got hot when some guys raided his site and got a story early.

I don't mind posting an excert and a link. The whole copy posting necessary in the Whitewater era was really a factor of the stories disappearing or being revised by higher editors in the left leaning journalism clique, thereby shielding Clinton. The fair use issue is only mandatory when the copy vanishes due to media hegomony.

[Saundra Duffy]

I never did. Whew!

[Constitution Day]

Heh!

[tiamat]

Well, I have not been loking at the Onion for ages now. Despite the great bit they did right after 9-11, ( "Hijackers Surpised to Fnd Themselves in Hell") they have become increasingly whiny , anti-troops and Anti-America.

Worse yet, they just aren't funny any more.

I don't need their stuff.

BTW, I continue to love Free Republic! Thanks!

Tia

[AppyPappy]

Splain me something. They have to pay for bandwidth. And I bet their advertising doesn't cover their expenses. So aren't we SAVING them money by "hosting" the content here on FR?

[Sloth]

The shame here is that the Onion has reliably been a more accurate source of news than either the Washington Post or the L.A. Times.

[Constitution Day]

I also found out about the Onion through FR, back when I was a lurker.

I don't recall the PETA stormtroopers article; I will have to look for it.

[ctlpdad]

Major bummer.

They have some of the funniest stuff i have ever read.

Have a good weekend, all!

[Alouette]

they have become increasingly whiny , anti-troops and Anti-America.

Not to mention anti-religious.

[steve in DC]

I have the same question.

Are links still OK?

[rwfromkansas]

good point.

No doubt the lawyers over there haven't realized that.

[jern]

http://www.theonion.com/onion3110/petacommandos.html

[Khurkris]

I agree with JR. One should chose their fights carefully. This could cost money that could better be used elsewhere. And besides, you can always refer to their story if need be.

[DannyTN]

"Well, there goes my patronage of the onion. I used to go theref 2 - 3 times per week. "

I know I went there everytime I saw an article from them posted here. If it wasn't for the occasional Freeper article, I'd forget about them completely.

[headsonpikes]

"Too many folks have taken them seriously in the past..."

TOO MANY?!??? Are you nuts?!?

Not nearly enough, imo. ;^)

[Bush_Democrat]

Yea, I think MineralMan is right, the Fair Use clause that allows us to use news stories here would not apply to the Onion, because all their 'news' items are pure fiction or satire (That's not to say that what's posted in the LA Times isn't also pure fiction, most of the time, or any of Hitlery's books also)

[Tijeras_Slim]

THIS MEANS WAR!

[mountaineer]

We conservatives who respect others' property rights should be more consistent (this is not directed at you specifically in any way, PL - just my general observation). A copyright is a form of ownership of certain property, in these cases, written material. I'm not sure why we can't do with the Onion or any publication what we've been instructed to do with WP and LAT articles, namely, post an excerpt and link to the full article. The copyright holders wouldn't object to that.

So we'd have to make one extra mouse click. It's really not that labor-intensive. Yes, Jim battled the WP and LAT - and it cost $$$. Why go through that again? (I can't comment on the legal defense fund. Perhaps someone with knowledge of it should post an accounting).

[Billthedrill]

OK, it's their call. Pity, though - nearly all their hits from me have been through FR. Now there will be none.

[Constitution Day]

LMAO! That is an old one. Thanks for the link, I have bookmarked it.

[SerpentDove]

A while back, I posted the one about "Owner of Complete Set of 'Mama's Family' Videos vows Never to Go On Ebay Drunk Again."

A classic.

Dear Sean Mills, we're FANS! Not trying to rip you off, but promote you! Oh well.

[thoughtomator]

Seems to me the biggest issue is the posting of images that are still hosted by their servers. That way, they use up the bandwidth, but they don't get the hits for advertisement sales. I can understand their point of view.

You might want to ask how they feel about reposting of article content under fair use, without the Onion-hosted images.

[MalcolmS]

Am I to be understandin' these scurvy knaves are accusin' us of web piracy! Of all the nerve, on today of all days!

Ready the grappling hooks, load the cannon. I thinks a boarding party be in order! Arrrrr!


Talk Like A Pirate Day Thread

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/985555/posts

[Willie Green]

Please so not post anything from The Onion.

I never cared much for Onion satires anyway.
Too much potty "humor", irreverent pope bashing, etc. etc.
Very little that's truly creatively funny.
I hope you give them the VDARE treatment instead of allowing excerpts like the LAT/WP.

[Bikers4Bush]

They were getting less and less humorous anyway.

No great loss really.