After a phone conversation with Jordan Gold, VP of Products and Content at Freedom Communications, regarding our post, "Freedom Communications - Knock it Off" ,Erin and I have now had the conversation we were hoping for. Mr. Gold apologized for the situation, and proposed a possible way to make it up to us. He offered a place on orangecounty.com's shopping and style page dedicated to boutiquing.com, containing our logo and an RSS feed of our blog...translated, that means the page would be constantly featuring our latest posts, but in a way that brings attention to boutiquing.com and local boutique shopping.
Our dedication is to our mission, not to holding a grudge...and we will keep you posted as to our decision. We want to thank all of our loyal readers and fans for your support and encouragement and for rallying behind us, on what started out as a very disappointing day. We value your input tremendously and welcome any questions or concerns you may have.
It was important to Erin and me that all of our readers have a chance to see Freedom Communications formal apology. Below is the e-mail we received this evening.
Erin:
I sincerely apologize for the unauthorized use of your content today. One of our employees violated our policies and our values by utilizing your content, without permission, and pasting it into our events engine. This is something we do not condone or foster, especially because, as a company, we see ourselves as defenders of property rights, including the intellectual property of content creators.
We have taken the unauthorized content off of our website. We have educated the staff member who did this. Please accept our apology.
Jordan Gold
VP Products and Content
Freedom Interactive
Showing posts with label freedom communications. Show all posts
Showing posts with label freedom communications. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Freedom Communications - Knock it Off!
Rant by: April
Boutiquing.com is a blog written by myself and Erin, two kindred fashion spirits who adore the boutique shopping experience. Our main goal is to bring much needed attention and online exposure to local boutique businesses in the Orange County area. We publish reviews of boutiques we love and promote their various events in the hope that we will help these small businesses remain in their vital role in the retail landscape.
Okay, sorry to sound cliche...but all of us trendsetters know, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery...true....but give a girl some credit. Today we found out we have been knocked off! Not in your standard, "G" instead of "C" Coach bag kind of way...in a full blown, didn't even bother to change a thing kinda way. How rude!
Here's the deal - Freedom Communications, the large Irvine based company who owns The Orange County Register as well as over 25 other newspapers and various TV stations and online publications, recently launched a new website called orangecounty.com. This site launched April 10th and covers all things OC. A welcome and long overdue destination that serves businesses and charities throughout Orange County, by offering event calendars, restaurant reviews, concert information etc. We were contacted yesterday by their product manager, Kris Heineman to talk about a possible partnership featuring boutique reviews from boutiquing.com....only to realize - they were already using our stories, without crediting us as the source, or licensing the content. Forgive us for the Legally Blonde moment...but we have exhibits:)
What we discovered on orangecounty.com:
Exhibit B
Chelsea Monroe Couture Debut - Read ours here.
Screen grab from orangecounty.com:
As I said before, boutiquing.com is a blog written by myself and Erin, we have no advertising, the reviews are NOT paid for, and we have developed this blog in an effort to help give reliable and relatable inside views into the Orange County boutique experience. Orangecounty.com is a corporate owned website with many paid advertisements and sponsorship by Fandango, and the ability, one would hope, to write and think for itself. So, why the need to steal content? We are more than happy to spread the word about the boutiquing spots you shouldn't miss...but if you are going to use our content, we expect the credit. At this time we have chosen not to respond to orangecounty.com's request for a partnership, because we feel their actions breech not only ethics, but trust...We are dedicated to bringing our readers the most accurate version of our experiences...and we ALWAYS give credit and links to our sources....and we weren't even journalism majors! We wonder how many others are being knocked off to make this company look good? There are three instances in which boutiquing.com was plagiarized by orangecounty.com... Coco Chanel made the wise recommendation of taking ONE accessory off before you leave the house... orangecounty.com - will you please take off THREE?
For more information on boutiquing.com's mission CLICK HERE.
See Freedom Communications' response to this post.
Boutiquing.com is a blog written by myself and Erin, two kindred fashion spirits who adore the boutique shopping experience. Our main goal is to bring much needed attention and online exposure to local boutique businesses in the Orange County area. We publish reviews of boutiques we love and promote their various events in the hope that we will help these small businesses remain in their vital role in the retail landscape.
Okay, sorry to sound cliche...but all of us trendsetters know, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery...true....but give a girl some credit. Today we found out we have been knocked off! Not in your standard, "G" instead of "C" Coach bag kind of way...in a full blown, didn't even bother to change a thing kinda way. How rude!
Here's the deal - Freedom Communications, the large Irvine based company who owns The Orange County Register as well as over 25 other newspapers and various TV stations and online publications, recently launched a new website called orangecounty.com. This site launched April 10th and covers all things OC. A welcome and long overdue destination that serves businesses and charities throughout Orange County, by offering event calendars, restaurant reviews, concert information etc. We were contacted yesterday by their product manager, Kris Heineman to talk about a possible partnership featuring boutique reviews from boutiquing.com....only to realize - they were already using our stories, without crediting us as the source, or licensing the content. Forgive us for the Legally Blonde moment...but we have exhibits:)
Exhibit A
Mi Place Trunk Show - Read ours hereWhat we discovered on orangecounty.com:
Exhibit B
Chelsea Monroe Couture Debut - Read ours here.
Screen grab from orangecounty.com:
As I said before, boutiquing.com is a blog written by myself and Erin, we have no advertising, the reviews are NOT paid for, and we have developed this blog in an effort to help give reliable and relatable inside views into the Orange County boutique experience. Orangecounty.com is a corporate owned website with many paid advertisements and sponsorship by Fandango, and the ability, one would hope, to write and think for itself. So, why the need to steal content? We are more than happy to spread the word about the boutiquing spots you shouldn't miss...but if you are going to use our content, we expect the credit. At this time we have chosen not to respond to orangecounty.com's request for a partnership, because we feel their actions breech not only ethics, but trust...We are dedicated to bringing our readers the most accurate version of our experiences...and we ALWAYS give credit and links to our sources....and we weren't even journalism majors! We wonder how many others are being knocked off to make this company look good? There are three instances in which boutiquing.com was plagiarized by orangecounty.com... Coco Chanel made the wise recommendation of taking ONE accessory off before you leave the house... orangecounty.com - will you please take off THREE?
For more information on boutiquing.com's mission CLICK HERE.
See Freedom Communications' response to this post.
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