Posted on 06/19/2002 1:54:11 PM PDT by Jim Robinson
I just received official word that our settlement with the LAT/WP in their alleged copyright infringement and unfair competion suit against Free Republic (click Source link above for complete history of the case) is completely finalized with the court. I do not have a copy of the final order yet, but the basic terms are as follows:
- Unless we receive prior written permission on an article by article basis, Free Republic agrees to continue posting only excerpts (as allowed by fair use) and links from any of the LAT/WP or related publications.
- Free Republic agrees to remove all full text copies of any LAT/WP and related publications copyrighted articles from its archives and servers and to destroy all copies of same.
- Neither party is awarded any damages, attorney fees or costs except that Free Republic agrees to pay the Los Angeles Times $5,000 and the Washington Post $5,000 (these negotiated amounts have already been paid).
I will post the entire final order including the list of related publications as soon as I receive a copy and get it scanned in.
Well, my fingers are not cold and dead and my keyboard has not been ripped away. While this is not entirely a win for FR, neither is it a crushing defeat. Free Republic is alive and well and the fight against liberalism continues on. It's a crying shame that the hallowed words of the WP/LAT will no longer grace our pages, but, somehow, I am sure we will manage to live on without them.
And despite what our detractors may say, we have not committed any crimes or broken any laws and we have not admitted to any guilt. We have negotiated a mutual agreement and settlement with the LAT/WP and have agreed upon satisfactory terms for continuing forward without having to spend the rest of our lives in court.
Many thanks to all of you for your past and continuing support.
Regards.
Jim Robinson
How I will sorely miss reading propaganda from the LAT and WP. Wait! I've never read anything from either one. Never mind.
Long live Free Republic!!!
I couldn't agree more, but that's not the reason I called. Screw the la times, and the washington beep, I'm backing the WINNING HORSE. With friends like that, who needs enemies? Perhaps they will never see the error of their ways. That doesn't matter, the fact the thousands, no, millions, see it another way is good enough for me.
Congratulations it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. and is one of the million reasons why I support what you are doing. You have given far more than you have gotten, keep it up, and more and more people will notice. They'd better or I want to know the reason why.
That on it's face is false because after two plus years of real life action, internet ads are still being placed, and websites are still operating without subscription fees. If the ads weren't profitable to the advertiser, they would no longer use them. If the use of ads weren't a sufficient way to generate revenue for websites, websites would employ different financing mechanisms. So, I think they are working to the satisfaction of both parties. YOU ARE THE WEAKEST LINK.
I sure hope little Brittany Moore from Girl Scout Troup 119 takes your home off her Cookie marketing door to door list. You're too iffy and juvenile to own a gun with that kind of talk. Grow up.
That's beyond stupid. "If they didn't want me to take all the newspapers in the box, they should just dispense them one at a time." "If 7-11 doesn't want their merchandise shoplifted, they shouldn't display it out in public." "If the theatre didn't want me videotaping the movie, they shouldn't have projected it onto a big screen right in front of me." "If they didn't want me to pump gas and split, they shouldn't have put the pump so far from the cashier and allow me to fill my tank without paying first."
Nice attitude pal. Hey, if you didn't want me to come and steal your chain saw, you shouldn't have left your garage unlocked when you were at church. If you didn't want to me to have sex with your wife, you shouldn't have left her alone when I was home next door.
Do you think these pretty colors and images appear on your computer screen from some mystical energy source in another dimension? Do you understand that behind everyone of the items posted here there are businesses and investments and employees and entreprenurial dreams and damned hard work? <
These places don't rely on the contributions of patrons like FR. They have a business model that is based on providing content that is interesting enough that people will visit their website to avail themselves of their news. There are advertisements for other businesses on that page. Those ad graphics - those products - are sold by businesses who also have humans and investment and employees and dreams and hard work behind them. They advertise with newsmax.com, for example, with an expectation that their ad will be viewed when someone reads the editorial content they are investing in. When the eyeball numbers don't make plan, Limbacher can't charge as much to keep these folks. If Limbacher loses his advertisers, Newsmax.com may cease operations. If Newsmax.com ceases operations, the writers he features lose revenue, the syndicator loses revenue, the network carrier loses revenue, the utility companies etc etc. Down the line. If someone's getting shortchanged, everybody loses, right?
NOT CWRWinger! Everybody is doing their part to exchange commerce and create value and prosperity EXCEPT FREE REPUBLIC. We're freeloading. We're the exploiters of other people's labor. WE'RE STEALING THEIR PROPERTY. Everybody is pulling their weight but our community here. We're parasites. Our duty is not hard. We don't have to write a check ... we don't have to sit down and bang out an interesting commentary 4 days a week. We don't have to design or maintain a web page, we don't have to sell advertising or negotiate syndication deals or sit in a Network center or buy servers and storage. We just need to double click on the link to the site we are getting the content from to do our share, to pay our righteous way. That's fair payment in this system. That's operating with integrity and responsibility. Not here, not you. Luddite.
This rant copyrighted by TigersEye. Any further reproduction of it, either digital or in crayon, must be authorized by TigersEye first.
The four minute jokes with the bad punch line payoffs are never to be encouraged.
As I said from the beginning - They want our archives!
Well, perhaps there are other archives ....? ;-/
FReegards,
Bob Ireland
Au contraire, I already have several offers for my rant in the thousand dollar range.
If the Girl Scouts in your neighborhood break into houses with guns, I would suggest moving.
Glad to... thought y'all would like to know.
The business of publishing relies on advertising revenue. Subscriptions and newsstand revenue barely cover the costs of distribution. A publisher must guarantee to an advertiser that a certain number of people read a publication and are exposed to the ads. And, they factor in multiple readers at libraries, sharing copies, etc. So, its fine if you go to the library and read the paper to save money, because the publisher saves distribution costs and still gets the page views it needs to charge the advertiser. They have a right to be concerned about theft and re-distribution of their content without advertising. That is what you are advocating and there is no justification for your position.
Thanks for the ping, Grampa Dave.
Excuse me, those same words were spoken by SC AG Charlie Condon last year. Can't handle absolutes can you?
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