Copyright and fair dealing

What is the protocol about linking to content and using photographs in blogs about the media? I wonder because today I was asked to remove a photograph from a blog post on the grounds it was a breach of copyright.

The photograph was obtained by the newspaper from someone involved in the story; it wasn’t shot by a staff photographer. According an email in the correspondence chain between the publication and I, the owner of the image had vested copyright in the news organisation and I was in breach of this copyright by linking to the image in my blog.

Pandering to an audience or whipping up moral panic?

I mentioned a recent Sunday Star Times article in a previous post. A front page story about the conviction of a sex offender with form. He pleaded guilty and at the time of writing was awaiting sentencing. I said at the time that the SST was promoting moral panic and creating a climate of fear with its reporting. I’ve also had an interesting day: an exchange with two senior SST staffers about that post. One demanding that I take down a photograph because of copyright issues and one demanding a retraction (I deal with this at the bottom of this post). However, in general I think the point I was making about hysteria and sensational reporting has been borne out.

Marty on The Wire

I was asked to comment on the bFM current affairs programme The Wire on the Herald on Sunday’s front page exclusive about Bailey Kurariki’s “lavish lifestyle” and my blog comments on the Qantas Media Awards. I was hoping to embed an audio player here, but I”m not yet tech-savvy enough to do this. So if you want to listen in, you’ll have to click the link below.

On The Wire, talking to Tim Neale about the Bailey Kurariki “lavish lifestyle” story