Why call it Guth? If there’s one question I get asked more than any other about Guth magazine, it’s why I called it Guth. The simple answer is, it’s an Irish word, and an Irish magazine, and unlike English words, most Irish words tend to be available. They’re less likely to be trademarked, less likely… Continue reading Guth: What’s in a name?
Tag: intellectual property
Platforms yet to be envisaged
The Irish Times is running a competition called Legends of the Fall, and asking readers to submit works of fiction “inspired by the events of the last five years in Ireland”. The original terms and conditions, published by the Irish Times, asserted that “by entering this competition, you are agreeing that any submissions made become… Continue reading Platforms yet to be envisaged
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 from a website and re-used. Not by a pirate website, but by an old-established company.… Continue reading A torrent of words
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 copyright issues, I first checked with everyone that it was okay to use their work.… Continue reading Down the tubes
It’s Alive!
This week, scientists created artificial life. Well, sort of. Truth is, once you snip away the press release puff and spin, it’s more a case that scientists copied life. Here’s how the BBC reported what happened: ‘The researchers copied an existing bacterial genome. They sequenced its genetic code and then used synthesis machines to chemically… Continue reading It’s Alive!
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, and you’ll get a tip off if there’s something interesting coming up. On Monday, I… Continue reading The death of journalism
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 thesub editing process, what appeared on the website was different to what appeared in print.… Continue reading Cash Call
Chutzpah
The definition of chutzpah used to be the murderer who killed his parents, then appealed to the court for mercy during his trial because he was an orphan. That definition may have to be updated in light of the lawsuit brought against Microsoft in China Dong Zhengwei, a Beijing lawyer, is taking a case against… Continue reading Chutzpah
To Every Cow Its Calf
Several news outlets are quite excited over the court order entertainment giant Viacom secured against Google. The eponymous search engine must hand over details of the videos watched by users of YouTube. Viacom claims Google has infringed it’s copyright, while Google says it is not responsible for YouTube content, and removes any material if there’s… Continue reading To Every Cow Its Calf