Copyrights and Wrongs - Publishing - Copywriting

Somehow we have come to believe more is better, that it's a good thing if asearch enginepops up with 27,999 entries on a given subject. Yet it's because of thisvery "too muchness"that many journalists have found themselves entangled in the Web.Writers believe they've sold one-time rights to articles, which then areleft indefinitely onWebsites or in archives - trapped without their permission, often times evenwithout theircreator's knowledge. In all but a few cases, writers have not beencompensated financially forthis prolonged use of their work.These days every tiny business, every magazine and newspaper, wants aWebsite. Editorswho would probably hand back the coin to the supermarket cashier who gavethem too muchchange apparently think nothing of decorating their Webpages with "donated"articles.Copyright is copyright, folks, be it bleached pulp or cyberspace. Cyberspaceis just morecomplex.The Internet is like a train out of control, running away with writers rights. Becaus e the Webis in its infancy, these working conditions can be improved. We still have achance to patchthings up and head that train in the right direction.Discovering a freshnessEven some journalists who once turned up their noses at the new medium arecurious enoughto flag down the train, not even sure where it's bound. The Internet hasbeen said to providesome old-fashioned print journalists the rush of excitement they once feltwhen they startedout as cub reporters so many moons ago.There's plenty of uncharted territory to cover and new rules to learn suchas creating shortersentences and paragraphs. This can lend a certain freshness to a stalecareer.Web managers do have a problem on their hands. Practically overnight, theyhave beenexpected to become HTML savvy and produce fully-functioning, competitivesites withplenty of toots and whistles.Often they have little or no staff. They are supposed to intelligentlyaddress an international audience, wow them, and somehome make a prof it atthe end.To disguise the function of journalists by referring to them as "contentproviders," "wordarchitects" or mere "slot fillers" is a disservice. With the new titles, it's easier to imaginethem mindlessly churning out piece after piece to hand over without commentor concern.Instead of sitting in first class, "content providers" end up chasing afterthe caboose.Let's explore and celebrate this new medium together, but there's no passingthe buck. Let'snot allow the practice of fair compensation for good journalism to bethoughtlessly tossed outthe train's window as we sit back and enjoy the ride.We editors and publishers are the ones with the authority to make positivechanges and we certainly have the responsibility to know exactly what'sposted on our Websites, under what conditions it got there, where it goesnext - and why.

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