Caught plagiarised

Jonathan at Plagiarism Today writes a long feature about ScooptWords. Good stuff and well worth a read. Unfortunately, like many Wordpress blogs of late, and for some reason I can't fathom when I post a comment to the site, it doesn't show up. So I'll post my comment here. I've also emailed it to Jonathan,

Excellent overview Jonathan, cheers. Just a few additions/clarifications.

The oft talked about blog button is already broaching sales, but it is actually a very, very small part of what we're about. It's the most passive sales method we currently have.

In the near future we will package the most commercial posts and present them in an easy to buy fashion. Editors will be able to sign up for a tailored email newsletter and/or RSS feed or visit an aggregated website. Buying content is as simple clicking a payment button in a feed, an email, on a website, or indeed the blog button on the originating blog.

How do we choose the 'most commercial posts'? Well, as you mention, we all have a journalistic background. We're not just some tech start up looking to make cash from bloggers. Some of us have written books, worked as editors or staff writers and freelances, so we have an idea of what sells and where it sells. I still work as a journalist myself. We're not saying we're experts, but we're not that clueless either :)

Also, we strongly believe that an editorial gatekeeper is key to the success of ScooptWords, or any blog based content selling service for that matter. We've had some great feedback from editors on our plans. From editors at publications with a 2 million circulation to wee specialist outfits with print runs in the thousands. Our job is to make the best, relevant, niche content available to these editors in an easily digestible form that's a snap for them to buy. As I mentioned, all of that's coming, just give us some time :)

You're bang on about rates, nothing is fixed in stone. We'll be reassessing every aspect of ScooptWords within 6 months. The blogger/ScooptWords cut is high on the list to chat about.

As for the copyright protection we offer. It's interesting that many bloggers signed up to BlogBurst, seemingly without realising the copyright grab that was going on and for no money. I believe BB have changed this slightly now. This made us very starkly aware that many bloggers didn't seem to have a clue about copyright. I mean I'm a blogger too and I'm very protective of my content - I've dealt head on with spambloggers and gotten results. Funnily enough, BlogBurst approached me to sign up for their service :)

However, there's no way I'm giving my content away, least of all to a company that's making cash out of it and offering zilch in return bar 'exposure'. Unfortunately, agreements like that are absolute nobrainers for newspapers. They get to choose whatever blog content they want and they get it for free and, worse, they plaster that content with advertising. Did you see how Scott Karp's post on SFGate appeared in a BlogBurst feed:

http://publishing2.com/2006/07/19/3-million-bloggers-looking-to-make-money/

Now tell me if that was your content and you saw no financial gain from that how would you feel? Be honest now.

Comments

[Plagiarism Today]

Graham,

Just a heads up, I rescued your comment from spam purgatory. I looked into why it was put there and it appears that your IP was listed on a blacklist. You might want to talk with the makers of Spam Karma 2, the anti-spam solution I and many other WP bloggers use, to see if there's anything you can do.

I don't know if it's something with your ISP, SK2 or Wordpress.

Anyway, the comment is up and thank you for your thoughts!

[Graham]

Thanks Jonathan, it could well be the ISP. I wouldn't be surprised if Vietnam is one the main sources of spam in the world... No worries, I relocate to relatively spamfree France in a couple of weeks. All *should* be better at that end.