Copyright Infringement Nairobi Star - Open Letter to William Pike

Posted by Binyavanga Wainaina in Featured Articles on 07 15th, 2009 | 8 responses


Response from Nairobi Star on Copyright Infringement

Response from Nairobi Star on Copyright Infringement

Dear Mr. William Pike,

Thank you for your letter dated 20th March 2009. I was very excited to receive correspondence from you. I heard about you, and the bold people of Kiss FM, open media to Uganda and Kenya even. I have been told what a tight and efficient business you run, that your radio station, Kiss FM is the most professionally run outfit in East Africa . Market surveys are taken, no decision is taken without good data. I have heard Caroline Mutuko call up Corrupt Pillars of Society and bring them down, and give them a good radio beating.

Will you allow me a moment to use your own brave journalistic methods? A few months ago, I was told that your newspaper, Nairobi Star, published an article that I wrote. I was surprised, of course, for nobody had asked me. I was doubly surprised, for your newspaper had done this before, early in 2008, and when I complained, I was told that it would never happen again.

Let us take a moment to talk about theft, and impunity. It is the season for this subject, is it not? To my own understanding, theft and impunity in Kenya comes when people who have power, money and influence gang together, as the human animal is wont to do, when motivation is needed to do something childish and immoral. Sometimes giggling happens. People occasionally huddle, like rugby props, and hug, gurgling loudly – as our parliamentarians did just after they found their blood soaked cake and were gorging it on live television last year – bitter enemies now friends - when we decided to buy peace with our tax money by having the biggest government in Kenyan history, and paying them more than an American Senator is paid.  Yippie!

Now, of course this cannot be said for a newspaper as dedicated to the truth as yours! According to your letter, it was ignorance – that lead somebody in your editorial team to cut and paste my Mail and Guardian column, from their website, presumably, and  lay it down gently onto your pages, and shoot it off to the printer, happy that a day’s serious journalism had been done.

Of course, I must believe you when you said, “We thought that Mr. Wainaina’s articles were freely available since they are posted on the internet.”

I must believe you when you say this, for you are an outfit with much invested in research and data. Clearly some researcher checked, and found out that  Mother Binyavanga Theresa goes about the internet Freely Enabling rich profit-making media.

I must apologize too. For I was so upset when I first heard what you did, I hired a lawyer, who has cost me 500 US dollars so far. And the results of his efforts are a three line letter from you, shrugging, “Oops”, it said, and “do you think I really care?,” it suggested.

No apology in your paper.

I thought, well, clearly these guys have more legal stamina and money than I do, and really don’t care whether or not they steal my work, they just huddle and giggle, and say, argh, shoot him a quick few lines to send him away.

Why was I so pissed off by your letter, Mr. Pike? For you to say, that any kind of writing is “freely available” is disingenuous. You are no fool, and are playing the ignorant and naive African paper that “does not know better”.  You show little concern for what I see as an act of theft masquerading as an innocent “error” - as you put it. For, nowhere have I said that my work is free, and no law or practice I know of, assumes that just because somebody’s work is available for reading on the internet, it is available for stealing for the purpose of profit, without consulting the writer, the newspaper that first published it, without even indicating where it was first published.

As you have now been informed that my work is not ‘freely available’ for your two second cut and pastes, you owe me money. Now, the thing is, I don’t come cheap. My rates differ, from place to place, but a good standard is one US dollar a word.  You also owe me 500 dollars, for my lawyer, and an apology in your newspaper, and one that is not hidden away in size 4 font inside your classified section.

I will donate your 800 dollar fee to the Kenya Red Cross.

What will I do if you fail to do this? Not much. As you know, no Kenyan trusts our justice system. Oh, sorry, No Kenyan except Chief Justice Gicheru, and our president Mwai Kibaki.

I will continue this conversation in my blog, soon.  For fun, you know.

Oh, and as an incentive for you, a two-for-one, I am happy to let you publish this piece as well, for no fee at all.

Binyavanga



8 Responses to “Copyright Infringement Nairobi Star - Open Letter to William Pike”

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