Perhaps you read the Vital Signs Blog post from May 30th about missionary John Leonard deciding to return to Brazil after being shot and paralyzed. It was a remarkable story published by the Des Moines Register. I quoted a couple of paragraphs from the article, gave full credit and even complemented the quality of the story.No matter.
The folks over at the Register didn't appreciate the attention given them by my modest little blog and so they were moved to take aggressive action. Here's the letter they sent my way today:
It has recently come to the attention of the Des Moines Register that you have improperly posted an article the rights to which are held by the Register. This article is regarding the missionary from Des Moines that was shot in Brazil. As copyright owner of that article, the Register has the exclusive right to its reproduction and distribution. We therefore ask that you immediately remove the posted article fromt [sic] your website and cease any and all further use of the material. Any continued posting or use will be considered willful copyright infringement.
Within 24 hour [sic] of your receipt of this e-mail, you should reply to this message by confirming that 1) each and every posting of the Des Moines Register material has been taken down and 2) you will not engage in any futther [sic] unauthorized copying the Des Moines Register material.
If you do not take the steps outlined above, this matter will be turned over to our attorneys.
Thank you.
I have done what was asked of me. In fact, I've gone the extra mile by printing their letter here so that you could see the professionalism and reader-friendly character of the Des Moines Register for yourself.
