how do y'all feel about this?

[ramsey everydaypants]

I just got this e-mail:

"Dear Ramsey

I am currently completing a book called FANZINES (Thames & Hudson) and have included the cover of List / Goodbye, Baltimore, no. 12 (fall 2008), fully credited in the book.

My book looks at the history of fanzines in a general overview of UK and USA-based self-publishing. As a good example of an interesting contemporary personal zine it would be remiss not to include it in any history of fanzines. The book is due out in September and I hope this will establish the importance of this form of self-publishing.

I do hope this is okay.

Yours sincerely,

Prof Teal Triggs
University of the Arts London
"

Poor form right? I know a lot of zinesters don't care about their things being reproduced or used, and I actually don't mind at all for it to be included, but it seems like asking ahead of time would be the right thing to do, right? Especially for a book?

[NicoleIntrovert]

Evidentally several zinesters have gotten that email today. If she could email you now.... why couldn't she have emailed before and asked permission??? Very rotten thing to do.

[ramsey everydaypants]

That's what I'm wondering. Seems intentionally shady to wait until after the fact to ask permission. If she's going to bother to ask at all, why not ask first.

NicoleIntrovert said:

Evidentally several zinesters have gotten that email today. If she could email you now.... why couldn't she have emailed before and asked permission??? Very rotten thing to do.

[Nichole]

Wow, if this would have come before it was sent to print, asking for permission, yeah... but to send a letter out telling you how you're featured in a book that is already in the works to be printed and, oh by the way, is that okay... that's not cool at all. Not a lot of tact.

Anyone who wants to email this woman to say your peace, here ya go! [e-mail]

Email found here: http://www.lcc.arts.ac.uk/Teal_Triggs_research.htm

[Becky the Evil Flower]

This is pretty disrespectful. How hard would it be to ask you ahead of time?

[Derek Neuland]

yea, that's ridiculous and totally unprofessional for someone who is publishing a book.

other than that, congrats!

[Erica S.]

Not just bad form, but probably illegal. I don't know how far you want to take it, but at the very least I'd contact the publisher and let them know that she's reproducing material without permission. How does someone get as far as publishing a book and not know Copyright 101? :/

[ramsey everydaypants]

I definitely replied. It says right in the e-mail that they're trying to establish the importance of this form of self-publish, but then they don't even take it seriously enough to ask permission first. hmmm.

Erica S. said:

Not just bad form, but probably illegal. I don't know how far you want to take it, but at the very least I'd contact the publisher and let them know that she's reproducing material without permission. How does someone get as far as publishing a book and not know Copyright 101? :/

[Ericfishlegs]

If somebody asked me ahead of time if it was OK I'd probably be thrilled. But if they didn't ask I think I'd raise a stink on general principle alone. If yours is the only angry/annoyed e mail they get they probably won't care, but hopefully several people will say something so it'll have some affect.

[Persephone Pomegranate]

Like Eric said, being asked ahead of time would feel like such an honor and would make me feel so happy. But asking after the fact just feels disrespectful.

[Nichole]

You're right. Even though I didn't receive a letter, I contacted Ms. Triggs last night. I hope others let their voices be heard considering it seems we all feel very similar about how she went about this.

Ericfishlegs said:

If somebody asked me ahead of time if it was OK I'd probably be thrilled. But if they didn't ask I think I'd raise a stink on general principle alone. If yours is the only angry/annoyed e mail they get they probably won't care, but hopefully several people will say something so it'll have some affect.

[Maranda Elizabeth]

Ramsey: Myself and my sister, among other zinesters, also received a similar messages yesterday, basically telling us that our zines were used without permission in her book. And because she didn't bother to do any fact-checking or PERMISSION-ASKING, she's publishing my sister's old name after we went through huge legal and paperwork troubles to get rid of our father's name. I am NOT PLEASED about my zines, or anybody else's zines being used without our permission. I can't understand why, if she can contact us now to let us know, she couldn't have contact us earlier to ask first. It is so unprofessional, and for the record, my zines are copyrighted. It is not okay to copy them without my permission.

This is what I wrote via a Facebook note:

"Dear zinesters whose work has been published in books about zines: Were you contacted first and asked permission for, say, images of your zines to be included within said book's pages? Because my sister and I were not, and apparently some book is going to press in September with images of our zines in them. I woulda been way more stoked if they asked first. Also, it looks like they are stupidly publishing my sister's old name, which is just offensive.

As my sister has noted, if they can contact us now to let us know about the book, they could have contacted us earlier to ask first. And by using a name that Amber hasn't been using for a couple years now, well, that just shows lazy research skills. If you Google "Culture Slut," six out of the first ten links include her current name and contact info.

I don't wanna be offended because it's cool that someone wanted to include our zines in her book, but they could've gone about it a bit more responsibly and respectfully."

And this is the email I sent to Teal:

"Hi Teal,

Thanks for contacting me about your book. Since publishing that issue of my zine, I have, among other things, gone through the process of a legal name change, and I sincerely hope my old name will not be credited in your book (the first hundred or more copies have my old name, and later copies of the same issue have been edited, so hopefully that's the one you got). May I ask what other zines are being included? And why neither myself nor my sister (Amber Forrester of Culture Slut) were contacted first for permission? I think it's great that you've decided to include us, and I'm definitely interested in reading your book, I just would have appreciated being asked beforehand. Thanks!

Maranda Elizabeth"

No response yet.

[Becky the Evil Flower]

Maranda that is a wonderfully crafted response.