Paywall as norm for news publishing

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sj-roc
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The Vancouver Sun and Province recently adopted a paywall policy, and this Edmonton Journal article announces that all Postmedia news properties will be added to this roster of paywalled content. As the article notes, this paywall policy is rapidly becoming the norm for other media outlets, Canadian and otherwise.

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/Postmedi ... story.html

I'm wondering what the consequences will be going forward for chat boards in general. Discussions on chat boards can entail quotation of relevant news articles so it raises the question of how the paywall policy will affect this practice. I'm no legal eagle but this strikes me as possibly an IP/piracy issue; paywalled content appearing on chat forums could raise concerns from the content owners. It seems likely that the liveliness of chat forums will become compromised with the reduced availability of media content to help provide chat context.

Again, just speaking in generalities but it does seem to me over time that a decline will be inevitable.
Sports can be a peculiar thing. When partaking in fiction, like a book or movie, we adopt a "Willing Suspension of Disbelief" for enjoyment's sake. There's a similar force at work in sports: "Willing Suspension of Rationality". If you doubt this, listen to any conversation between rival team fans. You even see it among fans of the same team. Fans argue over who's the better QB or goalie, and selectively cite stats that support their views while ignoring those that don't.
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D
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another example that this internet thing may not be just a fad :wink:

I don't think it will have much effect at all on a site like this, in fact it may even help as people search for free news info and discussion.
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Toppy Vann
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The fundamental basics of quotes won't change even if the story is on a paid service.

But what is routinely violated (here on this site too) is where even the moderators at times post almost the entire article from the daily newspapers - not just a few quotes to give the gist of a story.

It is a copyright violation to publish the entire or almost all of any article even if you attribute it to the source.

It is fair to quote a few paragraphs if you give the source but the a few paragraphs cannot be nearly the whole story.

Sites like this are expected to monitor this to make sure that users aren't in violation but this is small potatoes for the most part compared to downloading music or movies.

Where it can be tricky is on investment boards like Stockhouse where someone quotes from a paid newsletter service where the analyst is giving his paid subscribers research and then finds that published on a public board.

For example. This is fine but not the entire or most of this article.

What the New Copyright Law Means For You
Tuesday November 13, 2012

"More than a decade of debate over Canadian copyright reform came to a conclusion last week as Bill C-11, the fourth try at reform since 2005, formally took effect. While several elements of the bill still await further regulations, the biggest overhaul of Canadian copyright law in years is now largely complete...."

http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/6695/135/

"Canadians can also take greater advantage of fair dealing, which allows users to make use of excerpts or other portions of copyright works without the need for permission or payment. The scope of fair dealing has been expanded with the addition of three new purposes: education, satire, and parody.

Fair dealing now covers eight purposes (research, private study, news reporting, criticism, and review comprise the other five). When combined with the Supreme Court of Canada's recent decisions that emphasized the importance of fair dealing as users' rights, the law now features considerable flexibility that allows Canadians to make greater use of works without prior permission or fear of liability."
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Sir Purrcival
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Well, they can try. Times they have changed and the old days are not coming back. In an era where anyone with a Twitter or Facebook account can in essence become their own reporter, there are going to be few things that media giants will be able to keep behind their paywall. One might think that the reason one might prefer to get their information from an established media outlet would be the confidence level in the information being reported. However, my impression is that much of the mainstream media engages in "event framing" which is to say put situations in the most controversial light in order to capture the public's attention. This often seems to come at the cost of accuracy or fairness. Furthermore, in many cases, media outlets simply don't put their own people on "the ground" anymore. Often picking up news from independent journalists or relying on the interpretations of a situation from a "local" expert. So one begins to wonder exactly how they are going to strong arm people into becoming subscribers. I'm sure for some, there is information that they specifically care about and that may make it worthwhile for them to subscribe much like some still get the paper and ink variety delivered to their door. But as we have seen, those numbers have been dwindling steadily over the years and as a result, many papers especially have had to shut their doors permanently. Trying to throttle access to the news they report is going to be like cutting off the head of a hydra. For every avenue cut off, two will appear in it's place. The only place I read the paper now is when I find it at a MacDonalds when eating there. I don't feel less informed for the loss and frankly am relieved that I don't have all those damned papers to clean up and recycle. Beside, there is still the NOW and the NEWS that come to my door often reprinting articles that have been in the main rags. The reality of the Internet has been a game changer. The horse has not only bolted but found a new barn where it can come and go as it pleases. Good luck trying to get it to come back
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