Wherever there's money made, there will be lawsuits to try and get a piece, hence the class-action suit filed by Jonathan Tasini looking for part of The Huffington Post’s $315 million acquisition payday from AOL.
By his accounts, Tasini figures the volunteer copy run for the past five years ended up generating a third of its sale value - $105 million. Naturally, he doesn’t explain how he got to that number, no why the site should be expected to pay for work people gave it for free. His major gripe is that users and contributors are frequently asked to help build a Web site without getting any financial compensation. Well sure, but the trade for content is exposure on a nationally recognized website. What's that worth?
It makes a good quote to hear him decry the "modern-day slaves on Arianna Huffington’s plantation", but if so, then Tasini himself is no sharecropper. In fact, has too has a blog that invites readers to contribute. And no, he doesn't pay them.
GAWKER took Tasini to task about his own site, which conveniently is based on the same model as The Huffington Post, using reader contributions. The biggest difference is that his site hasn't made nearly the impact - or money, to make it a target for suits. In response to their questioning, Tasini replied, "Oh, I see what you're doing. Are you comparing my little blog to the Huffington Post? That's absurd." Not so much, and they also found out that you're better at profiting from talking about representing the little guy than actually winning anything from them.
By his accounts, Tasini figures the volunteer copy run for the past five years ended up generating a third of its sale value - $105 million. Naturally, he doesn’t explain how he got to that number, no why the site should be expected to pay for work people gave it for free. His major gripe is that users and contributors are frequently asked to help build a Web site without getting any financial compensation. Well sure, but the trade for content is exposure on a nationally recognized website. What's that worth?
It makes a good quote to hear him decry the "modern-day slaves on Arianna Huffington’s plantation", but if so, then Tasini himself is no sharecropper. In fact, has too has a blog that invites readers to contribute. And no, he doesn't pay them.
GAWKER took Tasini to task about his own site, which conveniently is based on the same model as The Huffington Post, using reader contributions. The biggest difference is that his site hasn't made nearly the impact - or money, to make it a target for suits. In response to their questioning, Tasini replied, "Oh, I see what you're doing. Are you comparing my little blog to the Huffington Post? That's absurd." Not so much, and they also found out that you're better at profiting from talking about representing the little guy than actually winning anything from them.
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