Hmmm… since all I saw yesterday on large public screens (today too likely but I’ve yet to turn on Big TV) were pictures and text from Spitzer’s escort’s MySpace page, one wonders what legal shallow end all MSM dived-into so quickly by publishing such content so brazenly? From PDNOnline:
Three attorneys who specialize in copyright law say media organizations are sailing in dangerous waters if they publish a personal snapshot without permission.
“Whoever took that picture owns that picture,” says New York attorney Nancy Wolff. “It’s either an infringement or they [the news outlets] have to make a fair use argument.”
One must assume The Press surely went for the “fair use” option in the case of duping MySpace pics. But one surely must wonder what the courts ‘o law would say in the matter, should there be subsequent legal action taken?
I linked back only to a NYTimes article about the escort when I blogged it, so I’m safe. In other words, I didn’t broadcast around to the planet any pictures stolen from someone else’s MySpace without permission.
Bloggers likely know far more (legal) publishing tricks than MSM nowadays, given all their hard-earned experience in the online milieu. Offline people who think bloggers have just been diddling themselves in cyberspace and merely writing about cute kids and posting pictures of our dogs during, say, a three-year (or plenty more for some) full online immersion just crack me the f up!
Mostly Media 