Three reasons why PR cares about copyright

Your PR department is probably the department most concerned about copyrights (outside the legal department, of course).

Here are three reasons.

Many PR people come from professional journalism backgrounds.  They’ve published or broadcast their thoughts and research.  They don’t want to see someone else casually benefiting from the fruits of their labors.

Even PR people without publishing or media experience are writers.  Humble and anonymous though the press release be, a PR person actually does write each one.  

Professional journalists and flacks, we all hope to produce a sentence, poem, paragraph, essay or book that lives on after us.  And when we do, we want our names on it, not the name of the person who hits the “copy” button or control-C.

Most pragmatically, PR people need positive relationships with media people.  Media people count on royalties or higher payments based on how many people read or see their work. 

What if I were a journalist and I discovered that the website of a company that was wooing me contained reproductions of my copyrighted work?  I’d be indignant.  I probably wouldn’t give that company good coverage. 

Unauthorized reproductions happen all the time.  A well-meaning and unsophisticated person scans a magazine article and puts the PDF up on the website.  Or the person exceeds the “Fair Use” doctrine and plagiarizes.  This happens in print, too, but it’s harder to spot.

If I were a journalist, I’d know that the job of the PR person at that organization was to cozy up to me.  I’d expect her or him to defend my copyright on my behalf, to stay on my good side.

Sometimes, as the PR person, I’ve noticed shocking plagiarism.  One example is a news site in a developing country reproducing entire articles without attribution.   I’ve pointed those violations out to the reporters whose words were stolen.  I didn’t do it to be righteous.  I did it because I wanted to strengthen the bond between the reporter and me.

As a PR pro, then, I occasionally make myself unpopular pointing out that, no, we can’t just reproduce copyrighted material.  I do it because it’s important in media relations.  But I also do it because I hope, one day, to write some immortal words.  And when I do, I don’t want Jim Bob’s Blog ‘n’ Bait Shop to take credit for them.

We're All Journalists Now, Aren't We?

I'm getting ready for The Big and Influential Trade Show.

As an exhibitor, my company received a list of the registered media planning to attend. Last year I just sent everybody some press releases. This year I'm being more selective, so I looked up each company. And, you know, some of them may have blogs, but I wouldn't call them "media," any more than I would call myself a medium. In fact, a couple of them were PR firms, maybe looking for free admission to the show.

If there were an emoticon for an eye roll, I would use it here.

I wish I could hear this speech

It may interest you that in my valedictory address to my graduating students (I was Program Director of the Master of Science in Information Assurance in the School of Graduate Studies... from 2002 to 30 April 2009), my topic will be _kindness._ I will specifically be mentioning the unpardonable rudeness of some professionals (!) towards public relations personnel. I have never understood why anyone would wantto be rude to someone doing her job.

An editor sent me this email on Friday. I sure wish I could hear the speech!

Marketing Communications Metrics

At two round table discussions today "Computing the PR-Sales Link: How Leading Brands Organize the Integration of Communications with Sales" and "Linking Your Communications Efforts to the Bottoms Line--Measuring How You're Being Perceived by Different Audiences and Where to Adjust Your Messaging to Make the Greatest Impact" I learned that other marketing communications professionals are as stymied as I am about how to prove the value of our work.

Every other PR professional I spoke to, including people who worked for agencies, international airlines and Ivy League universities, all felt frustrated by the lack of convincing benchmarks. And all this time I thought that it was just me. I thought that if I read the right book, took the right class, diligently studied the metrics in VOCUS, I could figure out how to demonstrate how my pickups resulted in sales.

Thanks to the Business Development Institute for the Communications, Reputation and Sales Driving the Top Line Conference today, for letting me know that I am not alone.

Is This the Future of the Media?

A friend of mine's story is troubling me. She said she sent a press release to a trade journal this week. She received an email back telling her that the publication was no longer accepting press releases. If she wanted her release to be published, she would need to become an author on the publisher's new site. Then she could submit her press releases.

She needs the 46 industry journals the publisher represents more than they need her. Ergo, she became an "author" on the site. Then she was told she would need to create her own "topic" under which she could submit her press release. It took her an hour to create the topic, she said, because she needed to devise a slogan and a mission statement, and she needed to choose a few articles from the publisher's archives to populate the topic. In essence, she was creating a mini-website for the benefit of the publisher.

I think I understand the point of view of the publisher. Ad revenues are falling, and with email it is easier than ever to send press releases, so the publisher is deluged with material. For search engine optimization, the publisher needs unique content. But because ad revenue is flagging, the publisher can't afford to pay reporters to turn those press releases into fresh thoughts and insights. "I know," the publisher proclaims. "I'll have those overpaid PR people do it instead. And if I give them each their own bylines, they'll take professional pride in their work, so they'll give me original content. And, eh, maybe some of them won't take off. That's okay, because the same people who aren't shelling out for advertising are still paying their PR people to do things like this."

My friend glumly reported that she was proposing titles for topics such as "Database Management Journal." "Actually, I would love to be an editor," my friend said, "but I want to edit something I know about. I don't want to be forced to edit a topic just so I can submit a few press releases."

Let me assure you, when my friend edits the DatabaseManagementJournal.publisher.com because the publisher can't or won't pay an editor, we are all in trouble. She knows little to nothing about databases. Any application that depends on her advice may very well fail.

Put editing back in the hands of professionals.