Bloggers will now think twice before agreeing to work for free on a high-profile site for the supposed exposure. In the closely watched class action lawsuit "Tasini v. AOL" U. S. District Judge John Koeltl tossed the case.
BLOOMBERG reports that in his opinion, Koeltl wrote:
"No one forced the plaintiffs to give their work to the Huffington Post for publication and the plaintiffs admit that they did not expect compensation."
In the blogosphere it is rare that toiling in the vineyards for free, much like those serial internships in glamour industries, gets anyone anywhere. A low wage is better than no wage. For example, Ana Marie Cox headed the "Wonkette" for the then wildly popular site GAWKER. That was when blogging was just taking off in the beginning of the 21st century. She received $10 a post and had to produce 10 posts a day about what was going on in Washington D.C. Through that she gained access to plum jobs ranging from TIME to GQ. Had she worked for free that probably wouldn't have happened.
In the class action suits against law schools for allegedly misrepresented job data, it could all come down to Buyer Beware. 1 suit has already been tossed in New York. In any future blogger or intern suits where there was an agreement to work for free in exchange for exposure, learning the business, and opportunity to network, the rulings might come down to the fundamentals of contract law.
Dear Not Expecting Payment for Writing:
I am happy that you have found a forum for expressing your political ideas and that you derive satisfaction from that. There are others, though, who do expect to receive more than that as a payoff. If it isn't money, maybe it's hope that the piece will be noticed by a media outlet with could provide paid work.
The world consists of many kinds of bloggers, with many different expectations.
Posted by: Jane Genova | April 01, 2012 at 07:02 PM
Your story says "Bloggers will now think twice before agreeing to work for free on a high-profile site for the supposed exposure." That's nonsense. I'm one of thousands of bloggers for the Huffington Post. I write my blogs--mostly political--for my own pleasure, for sharing my ideas with others, and for trying to convince them of the correctness of my ideas. Nobody at Huffpost ever promised me payment and I don't expect any. I won't think twice "before agreeing to work for free." Why should I? It changes nothing. Your reporter or their editors should have thought twice before allowing that nonsensical sentence to be published.
Posted by: Sandy Goodman | March 31, 2012 at 03:57 PM