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REPORTING VERSUS COPY-PASTING: ARMENIAN MEDIA PLEDGE TO CLAMP DOWN ON NEWS LIFTERS
News | 26.06.13 | 09:40
Photo: MediaCenter
By Gohar Abrahamyan
ArmeniaNow reporter
Armenian lawmakers plan to debate amendments to the Law 'On Copyright
and Related Rights' next fall to address and regulate the use of
paper-based media-generated content by websites. But a number of
online media have decided not to wait for the legislative measure,
issuing a joint statement pledging to follow a certain set of rules
to avoid copyright violations.
The legislative amendments discussed by the government last week
concern the relations among newspapers, magazines and websites when
it comes to using excerpts or reproducing other sources' news. The
draft law suggests that such practice be allowed only in justifiable
measure with all proper referencing to the origin of the story or
article to be provided.
The lawmakers who initiated the change believe that due to
technological advancement online media have an unfair advantage over
print media when it comes to freely and limitlessly reproducing full
stories or articles written by journalists of paper-based media,
which is also believed to inflict financial damage to newspapers
and magazines.
"Such a situation damages the original publication as its article
or story loses its exclusivity, which affects the number of printed
copies, while increasing the number of website visits," the authors
of the bill say.
But even before the passage of the law, last week the chief editors
of 15 Armenian online media issued a joint declaration stipulating
nine rules of cooperation to address the concerns that exist in
the information and media sphere. So far, the statement has been
signed by the editors of the following sites: aravot.am, armlur.am,
armversion.am, asekose.am, galatv.am, haynews.am, irates.am,
panorama.am, report.am, shamshyan.com, tert.am, times.am, yerkir.am,
168.am, 1lur.am. The statement is open for signing by editors of
other media as well.
According to the statement, media commit themselves to reprinting
each other's stories and articles (including photos and videos) only
with hyperlinks to the original story or the publication's website and
with the indication of the name of the author whenever there is such,
as well as to providing proper references to the original sources of
translations, reproducing stories not in full so that the reader is
still interested in going to the original source.
"Those media that break any of the rules will receive letters with a
warning from the editors of the other media that are signatory to this
statement and will be requested to correct their mistake or omission.
After three such warning letters the requests will be made publicly,"
the statement says.
Still in May editors of several print media in Armenia made a similar
statement.
Editor-in-chief of the Zhoghovurd daily Taguhi Tovmasyan, who is one
of the initiators of that statement, said during a panel discussion
on Tuesday that new websites appear in Armenia almost every day and
many of them even have no staffs as they fully rely on reprinting and
reproducing news stories and articles lifted from other sources. The
editor believes that the activities of such websites must be restrained
"so that they understand that there is no operating a website with
just a couple of people by misappropriating somebody else's work."
Tovmasyan believes that codes of conduct in the form of statements
will make it possible to achieve self-regulation without intervention
from legislators.
Ashot Melikyan, who chairs the Committee to Protect the Freedom
of Expression, backed the initiatives, describing them as a
'self-purification' process.
"This is a consequence of the fact that non-professionals started
to engage in journalism. This is a normal phenomenon as civic
journalism is a developing trend that reflects the development of
modern technologies. The law that was created years ago was good for
that time, but a number of today's realities stipulate the need for
new adequate solutions," said Melikyan.
http://armenianow.com/news/47201/armenia_online_media_plagiarism
News | 26.06.13 | 09:40
Photo: MediaCenter
By Gohar Abrahamyan
ArmeniaNow reporter
Armenian lawmakers plan to debate amendments to the Law 'On Copyright
and Related Rights' next fall to address and regulate the use of
paper-based media-generated content by websites. But a number of
online media have decided not to wait for the legislative measure,
issuing a joint statement pledging to follow a certain set of rules
to avoid copyright violations.
The legislative amendments discussed by the government last week
concern the relations among newspapers, magazines and websites when
it comes to using excerpts or reproducing other sources' news. The
draft law suggests that such practice be allowed only in justifiable
measure with all proper referencing to the origin of the story or
article to be provided.
The lawmakers who initiated the change believe that due to
technological advancement online media have an unfair advantage over
print media when it comes to freely and limitlessly reproducing full
stories or articles written by journalists of paper-based media,
which is also believed to inflict financial damage to newspapers
and magazines.
"Such a situation damages the original publication as its article
or story loses its exclusivity, which affects the number of printed
copies, while increasing the number of website visits," the authors
of the bill say.
But even before the passage of the law, last week the chief editors
of 15 Armenian online media issued a joint declaration stipulating
nine rules of cooperation to address the concerns that exist in
the information and media sphere. So far, the statement has been
signed by the editors of the following sites: aravot.am, armlur.am,
armversion.am, asekose.am, galatv.am, haynews.am, irates.am,
panorama.am, report.am, shamshyan.com, tert.am, times.am, yerkir.am,
168.am, 1lur.am. The statement is open for signing by editors of
other media as well.
According to the statement, media commit themselves to reprinting
each other's stories and articles (including photos and videos) only
with hyperlinks to the original story or the publication's website and
with the indication of the name of the author whenever there is such,
as well as to providing proper references to the original sources of
translations, reproducing stories not in full so that the reader is
still interested in going to the original source.
"Those media that break any of the rules will receive letters with a
warning from the editors of the other media that are signatory to this
statement and will be requested to correct their mistake or omission.
After three such warning letters the requests will be made publicly,"
the statement says.
Still in May editors of several print media in Armenia made a similar
statement.
Editor-in-chief of the Zhoghovurd daily Taguhi Tovmasyan, who is one
of the initiators of that statement, said during a panel discussion
on Tuesday that new websites appear in Armenia almost every day and
many of them even have no staffs as they fully rely on reprinting and
reproducing news stories and articles lifted from other sources. The
editor believes that the activities of such websites must be restrained
"so that they understand that there is no operating a website with
just a couple of people by misappropriating somebody else's work."
Tovmasyan believes that codes of conduct in the form of statements
will make it possible to achieve self-regulation without intervention
from legislators.
Ashot Melikyan, who chairs the Committee to Protect the Freedom
of Expression, backed the initiatives, describing them as a
'self-purification' process.
"This is a consequence of the fact that non-professionals started
to engage in journalism. This is a normal phenomenon as civic
journalism is a developing trend that reflects the development of
modern technologies. The law that was created years ago was good for
that time, but a number of today's realities stipulate the need for
new adequate solutions," said Melikyan.
http://armenianow.com/news/47201/armenia_online_media_plagiarism