Unbelievable

As a long-time editor and media professional, I find the recent copyright infringement incident involving Cooks Source magazine stunning not only in its flagrancy, but in the brazen stance taken by the editor, which is utterly beyond belief. (Get the backstory here, courtesy of The Guardian.)

The editor’s comment that the writer should be appreciative of all the work they did fixing up her poor copy after they STOLE and republished her article really takes the cake. Incredible! Then again, what can you expect from a publication that doesn’t even punctuate its own name correctly?

They deserve to be sued. But perhaps they’re getting a bigger punishment meted out in the court of public opinion. There has been much ado about the matter on various blogs and in social media circles in the last few days. Commenters have been sticking it to the magazine on Twitter and on its Facebook wall: “Hey, I was told I could find Crooks Source here …” and, my favorite, “Does anyone have a link to Cooks Source’s recipe for Copy Pasta?”

They’ve got some serious damage control ahead of them. I’ll be surprised if one particular self-proclaimed veteran editor, badly in need of a reality check and some professional ethics, retains her job.