For a while, I’ve been toying with an column idea. Call it The Raised Eyebrow. Part Flat Earth News, part questioning conventional wisdom. Last week, an editor agreed to a column. Depending on how it worked out, more might follow. …
Tag Archive: copyright
Jan
29
A torrent of words
I write. As a freelance, I hold copyright on those words. “Ireland’s SOPA” wants to protect those words. But copyright already protects them. My words have been pirated a few times. The first time, articles were cut and pasted wholesale …
Jun
13
Orphan works
Imagine you arrive at a foreign airport, only to discover that your luggage has somehow gone missing. Perhaps it’s on a later flight, or it was sent to another airport. So you go to the lost baggage office, only to …
Apr
29
Copy that
Tucked into the Fine Gael manifesto were a couple of promises which affect journalists: a plan to pioneer US-style “fair use” in EU law, and a review of intellectual property (IP) law. Fair use, Fine Gael says, will “allow internet …
Aug
26
Down the tubes
A couple of weeks ago, I uploaded my first video to Youtube – a montage of photographs taken at the Glencolmcille Agricultural Show, set to a music soundtrack by Eunan McIntyre, a local musician. Being a journalist, and living with …
Feb
27
The death of journalism
Earlier this week, I spent half a day sitting in a district court. The district courts can be worthwhile if you’re a freelance journalist, but they’re a bit of a lottery too. Get in well with some of the staff, …
Feb
04
Cash Call
Sixteen months ago, I wrote a story. It was a nice little story, with some good quotes from the main player. I sold it to a provincial paper. I posted the story on my website. Thanks to the vagaries of …
May
29
Poll Topper
This week, this blog quietly marked it’s first anniversary. The first post here appeared on 27 May last year, two hundred words on an item covering the wearing of the hijab, religious freedom and tolerance. I have no idea how …
May
29
A Picture Is Worth…?
Local election candidate Emma Kiernan broke out of the local media to gain (perhaps fleeting) national fame this week, thanks to the interweb. Kiernan, a Fine Gael candidate running for a spot on Newbridge town council, is young, attractive, and …
Mar
11
Striking An Odd Note
Meteor, the third place mobile telephone company in the Irish marketplace behind Vodafone and O2, has a new advertisement. The new commercial, which I caught on one of the radio stations as I drove home this evening, promotes the company’s …